Meghalaya: Deteriorating law and order major issue in 2013

Worsening law and order situation in Garo Hills region coupled with mushrooming of militant groups, the Rs 120 crore C M J University PhD scam and killings arising out of superstitious beliefs marked 2013 for Meghalaya.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma led Congress to a comfortable win in the Assembly elections with the party winning 29 seats, UDP eight seats, NCP and NPP two each while others bagged 19.

Sangma, who was sworn in for the second term in office after having almost single handedly routed the P A Sangma stronghold in the Garo Hills and the regional forces in the Khasi Jaintia Hills region, faced the worst anti-government protests over the demand for Inner Line Permit.

During the three-months-long crisis, three persons died after activists poured petrol bombs and set them on fire. Properties worth over Rs 40 crore were damaged during the period even as the situation worsened after Sangma adopted a defiant policy against the protesters.

Sangma was instrumental in Meghalaya getting Planning Commission's approval of the state's plan size of Rs 4151 crore, seeking an additional fund of another Rs 3000 crore over and above the plan size and securing a 100 million USD loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve education sector.

However, in an embarrassment for the Congress-led coalition regime, former Governor R S Mooshahary blew the lid off the racket of fake PhD degrees awarded by the C M J University.