On 2 April 1970, the state of Meghalaya became an autonomous state and later, on 21 January 1972, it became a full-fledged state. The capital of Meghalaya is Shillong. The Meghalaya government takes all kinds of action following the parliament laws. The Union can direct the state government whenever it finds it necessary.
The basic structure of the government in Meghalaya is given below:
Council of Ministers
The executive authority of every state is vested in the hands of the Council of Ministers. The "Chief Minister" is its head and therefore is at the apex. The Governor of the state appoints the chief minister whereas the chief minister's advice is sought by the governor while appointing the other council of ministers. The Council of Ministers together is in charge of the Legislative Assembly of the State.
It comprise of both the cabinet ministers as well as the other ministers of the state. The cabinet ministers determine the policies of the state government. The other ministers conversely attend cabinet meetings on their concerned departments as and when the cabinet considers.
The current Chief Minister of the state is Conrad Sangma. More than 6 essential departments are at his jurisdiction.
Besides the chief minister and the deputy ministers, the council of ministers of Meghalaya consists of several other ministers who are in charge of other important departments. The list of few of the government departments are stated below.
- Ministry of Commerce & Industries
- Ministry of Finance
- Ministry of Mining & Geology
- Ministry of Personnel
- Ministry of Planning and Tourism
- Ministry of Administrative Reforms
- Ministry of Elections
- Ministry of Home (Passport)
- Ministry of Law
- Ministry of Soil & Water Conservation and Water Resources
- Ministry of School Education and Literacy
- Ministry of Higher and Technical Education
- Ministry of Public Health Engineering
- Ministry of Revenue & Disaster Management
- Ministry of Cooperation
- Ministry of District Council Affairs
- Ministry of Transport
- Ministry of Border Areas Development
- Ministry of Community & Rural Development
- Ministry of Forests & Environment
- Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Department
- Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary
- Ministry of Printing & Stationery
- Ministry of Secretariat Administration and Social Welfare Department
- Ministry of Registration and Stamps
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
- Ministry of Information & Public Relations and Information Technology
- Ministry of Excise Housing,
- Ministry of Sericulture & Weaving
- Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs
- Ministry of Municipal Administration
- Ministry of Labour
- Ministry of Urban Affairs
- Ministry of Arts & Culture
- Ministry of Food Civil Supplies
- Ministry of Consumer Affairs
- Ministry of Power
Current Governor of Meghalaya
The current Governor of Meghalaya is Shri Banwarilal Purohit (Additional Charge On 27.01.2017).
Meghalaya National Political Parties
National political parties in Meghalaya play an important role in the politics of the state. Although there is a prominent presence of many regional and state level parties, yet it is to the Meghalaya national political parties that the inhabitants look at for the formation of the state government as well as in the selection of parliamentary candidate. It is both singly and through coalition that the national level parties in Meghalaya play such an important role in the political scenario of the state. The Indian National Congress has the largest presence of national political parties at Meghalaya, although Bharatiya Janata Party is gradually increasing its influence in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party may not enjoy the wide popularity of Indian National Congress in Meghalaya, but it is steadily strengthening its base of operations in the state. Through alliances with the various right wing political parties of the state, it remains imperative that Bharatiya Janata Party will exert a much more significant influence on the state's political scenario in the coming years.
State Level Political Parties
The Meghalaya state level political parties exercise considerable influence in the state's politics. There are many ethnic affiliations within the population of Meghalaya. Therefore the state level parties often become credible mouthpieces to voice people's demands. The state level political parties in Meghalaya were established with the same ideal. They were created with the intentions to be a necessary corrective to the policies of the national level parties to suit the local needs, as well as to play an important part in the state's parliamentary system.
The state level political parties of Meghalaya were developed to address the key issues in the lives of the inhabitants of the state. However, lack of infrastructures, funds and often organizational deficiencies have come in the way of them becoming formidable forces in the state's political scenario. Although it is difficult for most state level parties to form absolute majorities, yet they play an important role in the state coalition politics. However, the state level political parties at Meghalaya are almost exclusively stratified on ethnic lines and therefore almost automatically annul any chance for widespread popularity. Some political parties are vested with out and out separatist agendas.
Meghalaya is surprisingly bereft of powerful political parties of strictly state level. The Meghalaya Nationalist Congress Party was bread away from the Nationalist Congress Party and was soon merged with the Indian National Congress. The Garo National Party is devoted solely to the formation of a separate Garo land separate from Meghalaya. Even they fail to exert much of an influence on the political scene of Meghalaya.
Bodies of the Meghalaya Government
The Meghalaya government comprise of:
- The Legislative
- The Executive
- The Judiciary
These three bodies are in-charge of the welfare and security of the citizens of the state of Meghalaya. The Meghalaya current government has a unicameral legislature. The legislative assembly consists of sixty members with the speaker and the governor at the top of the legislature. Out of the total number of seats, fifty five are reserved for the ST candidates. Meghalaya has two representatives from Tura and Shillong who represent the state in Lok Sabha. The state has one representative in Rajya Sabha.
The High Court of Guwahati exercises its jurisdiction over the state of Meghalaya. The High Court's main seat is in Guwahati and a "Circuit Bench" also functions at Shillong since the year 1974. Shillong also has the court of the session judge and district judge. Besides these, the deputy commissioner and his associates exercise judicial powers in various parts of Shillong. Courts under Khasi Syiemship exercises power over Khasi Syiemship regions. Tribal areas of the state of Meghalaya have "District Council Courts" and other secondary courts which have originated from the "Sixth Schedule" of the Indian Constitution.
District Council of Meghalaya
Each autonomous Meghalaya District Council is one of the most significant features of the state's legislature. They were brought about by the sixth schedule of the constitution. There are three autonomous district councils in Meghalaya:
- The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council
- The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council
- The Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council
The autonomous district councils are devoted to safeguard the rights, traditions, practices, cultures and laws of each region. Thus each District Council at Meghalaya has its own counterpart of the legislature, executive and judiciary that are in-keeping with the customs and traditions of each area.
The Garo Hills and the Jaintia Hills autonomous District Council in Meghalaya are located on the mountains of the eastern side of the state. The Garo Hills are on the Western side of the state. The Garo Hills are made up of 22 constituencies and Jaintia Hills have 29 constituencies.
The elections of each District Council of Meghalaya are intensely competed by the political parties of the state. The national parties take a keen interest in the District Council elections. Indian National Congress has a prominent presence in Meghalaya District Council elections. However, the state level parties, which fail to make much of a mark in the state assembly elections, often fare quite well in these elections. The results of the District Council elections are often clear indicators to the political atmosphere of the state and are considered to be previews to the assembly and parliamentary election results.
Meghalaya State Constituencies
Meghalaya state constituencies can be mainly divided into assembly constituencies and the parliamentary constituencies. The elected members from the assembly constituencies go up to represent the area in the Meghalaya state legislative assembly, whereas the winners from the parliamentary constituencies represent their area in the Lok Sabha or the lower house of the Indian legislature. There are 60 assembly constituencies and 2 parliamentary constituencies in Meghalaya.
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Committees of the Legislative Assembly
Following committees comes under the Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya:
- Business Advisory Committee
- Committee on Public Accounts
- Committee on Petition
- Committee on Public Undertakings
- Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes Scheduled Castes and other
Backward Classes
- Committee on Estimate
- Committee of Privileges
- Committee on Government Assurances
- Committee on Sub-ordinate Legislation
- Rules Committee
- House Committee
- Select Committee
- Library Committee
- Budget Committee
- Committee on Empowerment of Women
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Last Updated on : October 3, 2014