Meghalaya govt to roll out online platform 'Meghamart': CM

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma Tuesday said the state government will soon roll out 'Meghamart', an online platform to facilitate sale and purchase of over 10,000 products sourced from local entrepreneurs.

He said the state government will soon publish the procurement policy making it mandatory for government departments to source certain amount of their supplies from local entrepreneurs.

"The government would soon roll out 'MeghaMart', an online platform to facilitate the sale and purchase of products sourced from local entrepreneurs," he said at the launch of Muga Silk Mission here.

The chief minister said the government has already prepared a database comprising 2,000 enterprises and more than 10,000 products that will be available through the online platform.

The platform would have famous items from Meghalaya and these include the famous Muga silk, derived from the Muga silkworms, he said.

The chief minister said the Rs 130 crore 'Muga Mission' is one of the many mission mode interventions of the state government that is aimed at enhancing production, value addition and marketing of the famous Muga silk.

Meghalaya, which produces about 30 metric tonne of Muga silk, accounts for a fifth of the 108 metric tonne of muga silk produced in the country.

Linking the rich history and culture of NE region to the 'muga silk', Sangma said the identity of the region as a silk producing province goes back to centuries.

According to the chief minister, the 'Muga Mission' is expected to provide leverages and directions to the Muga silk production with a funding of close to Rs 130 crore from multiple sources over a period of five years.

He also said that through the mission, the farmers will be able to connect with their buyers directly without the interference of middlemen.

Market tie up with industry partners, fashion houses and designers would give a major fillip to muga farmers with the increase in demand of muga silk from Meghalaya, he said.

Additional chief secretary K N Kumar said the state government has prepared a roadmap for implementation of the mission and an investment of around Rs 130 crore will be made in the next five years for area expansion, development of critical infrastructure, building of human capital and significant inputs for developing final finished products including its sale and marketing.

Kumar said the target output in the next four to five years would be 43 metric tonne, a significant increase of 13 metric tonne with monetary production value of the raw resources valued at around Rs 50 to Rs 70 crore.

Kumar said that a Muga Farmers' Training Centre would be set up at Resubelpara in North Garo Hills to facilitate scientific training and equip the farmers with the necessary skill sets.

The chief minister also released the Meghalaya Muga Mission Document during the function.