Sohra, January 10 : In a “Cabinet On The Move” meeting held in Sohra today, the Meghalaya Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, approved several key initiatives and amendments.
Key Decisions:
- CM ASSURE Market Intervention Scheme: The Cabinet approved the CM ASSURE scheme to support small and marginal farmers. This market intervention scheme will provide fixed-price procurement during market price declines to prevent distress sales of non-perishable commodities with longer shelf lives. A revolving corpus fund of ₹100 crore has been budgeted by the state government, with an additional ₹20 crore from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
- Adhoc Employee Regularization: An additional 850 adhoc employees appointed before 2007, who were not included in the 2022 regularization of 3000 employees, will be regularized, following a Supreme Court directive.
- Minimum Wage Revision: The Cabinet approved revised minimum wages: Unskilled workers – Rs. 525 per day, Semi-Skilled workers – Rs. 565 per day, Skilled workers – Rs. 605 per day, and Highly Skilled – Rs. 654 per day.
- Meghalaya Factories Rules Amendment: The Meghalaya Factories (Amendment) Rules, 2025, were approved, amending Rule 98 to allow licenses to be valid for 1-10 years. Women will be permitted to work night shifts with mandatory safety measures like CCTVs, GPS, and security apps. This aims to facilitate ease of doing business.
- Assured Career Progression Scheme (ACPS) Relaxation: The Cabinet relaxed ACPS provisions to prevent anomalies related to promotion and pay scales, ensuring that the scheme does not affect seniority or require new posts.
- Meghalaya Ceiling on Government Guarantees Bill 2025: This bill, designed to regulate government guarantees, was approved, allowing public sector undertakings, statutory boards, and other institutions to secure loans.
- Delegation of Financial Powers: Financial powers have been delegated to the Executive Engineer of the Fisheries Department, similar to other departments, for small works.
- Leave for Organ Transplant: Government servants undergoing organ transplantation will be granted up to six months of additional leave.
- Building and Other Construction Workers Rules Amendment: Amendments to the Meghalaya Building and other Construction Worker’s (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Rules, 2008, were approved to provide higher benefits to registered laborers regarding medical care, children’s education, and pensions.
- Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act Amendment: An amendment to the Meghalaya Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2006, was approved, aligning with the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendation, fixing the normal borrowing ceiling at 3.5% of GSDP for FY 2024-25.
- Land Purchase for Water Supply Scheme: Direct purchase of land through DRDA was approved for the New Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase – I in East Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills.
- Pension Commutation Rules Repeal: The Meghalaya Civil Service (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1992, were repealed and replaced with a simpler process.
- Republic Day VIP List Finalized: The list of VIPs for the Republic Day celebrations on January 26th was finalized.
