Meghalaya’s flagship initiative ‘CM CONNECT’ has completed its first year with remarkable success, having addressed over 3,200 citizen grievances. Launched by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, the platform was introduced to strengthen citizen-government interaction, provide direct access to the Chief Minister’s Office, and ensure time-bound redressal of public concerns.
The initiative marks a major shift in the state’s approach to governance—bringing transparency, accountability, and prompt response to issues that matter most to people on the ground.
A Bridge Between Citizens and the Government
‘CM CONNECT’ was conceptualized to bridge the communication gap between the government and the people of Meghalaya. Citizens can submit their grievances or suggestions through multiple modes—online platforms, emails, and even walk-ins at designated offices.
Since its launch in 2023, the initiative has gained significant traction. According to official data released this week, more than 3,200 grievances have been redressed, with many of them resolved within the government’s target response time of 30 days.
“The vision behind CM CONNECT was to create a direct channel between the citizens and the Chief Minister’s Office,” said CM Conrad Sangma. “We believe that governance is most effective when it listens, adapts, and responds to people’s voices.”
Diverse Grievances Across Departments
The grievances submitted to CM CONNECT covered a wide range of concerns. The majority involved issues related to public services, rural infrastructure, education, health, and employment opportunities. Other cases involved matters of local governance, pension disbursement, and access to welfare schemes.
Departments that saw the highest number of complaints included the Public Health Engineering Department, Social Welfare Department, Education, and Urban Affairs. What stands out is not just the number of complaints received, but the pace at which many of them were resolved. In several instances, solutions were provided within one to two weeks, especially for urgent matters like electricity faults, water supply breakdowns, or blocked roads.
Tech-Driven Governance
One of the standout features of the initiative is its integration of digital tools. The CM CONNECT dashboard is part of the Meghalaya Enterprise Architecture (MeghEA) framework, which allows seamless tracking of complaints, categorizing them department-wise and status-wise.
The dashboard is not only accessible to officials but also open for public viewing in a limited format, making the process transparent. Citizens can track the status of their complaints, see which department is handling them, and view closure reports once the grievance is resolved.
In many rural and remote parts of the state, mobile vans and village-level facilitators were deployed to help people lodge complaints, especially those who do not have internet access or are unfamiliar with digital tools.
Feedback and Follow-up
To ensure the quality of grievance redressal, the Chief Minister’s Office implemented a feedback mechanism. Citizens who lodged complaints are contacted after resolution to confirm satisfaction. This two-way interaction has increased trust in the platform and allowed the government to identify recurring issues or systemic gaps.
According to officials, around 85% of citizens expressed satisfaction with the way their grievances were handled, while the rest offered suggestions for improvement. This data, officials say, is helping departments refine their operations and enhance efficiency.
Empowering Grassroots Voices
The CM CONNECT platform has also helped in highlighting hyperlocal issues that might have otherwise gone unnoticed—such as inner-village road repairs, access to ration cards, or teacher absenteeism in rural schools.
For instance, in West Khasi Hills, a group of villagers had raised concerns about delayed implementation of a water supply scheme. After they lodged a complaint through CM CONNECT, the issue was escalated to the concerned department and resolved within three weeks—work that would otherwise have taken months through traditional bureaucratic processes.
Looking Ahead
Encouraged by the platform’s performance, the Meghalaya government is now looking to expand the scope of CM CONNECT. Plans are underway to integrate the platform with mobile applications, make real-time analytics dashboards available to all departments, and possibly link it with central government schemes for synchronized governance.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma reaffirmed his commitment to deepening participatory governance. “People should feel heard and empowered,” he said. “CM CONNECT is not just a grievance redressal platform—it is a symbol of our intent to govern with compassion, urgency, and accountability.”
With its citizen-centric model and technology-driven framework, CM CONNECT stands as a pioneering example of digital governance in northeast India, setting the stage for other states to follow suit.