Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma on Monday said that the institutional frame work of the Self Help Groups

(SHGs) needs to be strengthened by increasing their entrepreneurship programmes.

Speaking at the 6th Meghalaya Saras Aajeevika Fair 2025 here, Sangma said, the

SHGs movement is one of the most transformative community driven programmes of Meghalaya whereby the women are combining their hard work with different aspects of our culture creating opportunities for themselves and others.

More than 60 SHGs and rural entrepreneurs from the state and also from other states participated in the fair.

Reflecting on the success of the women self help groups in the state, the Chief Minister said that it has been possible because the government has taken a different approach on governance that is not driven only driven by schemes but in making a difference in the lives of women, entrepreneurs, farmers and youth.

“I am very happy today to see that today’s program is not just about the economic growth but also celebrating the important role of self help groups and the women behind it,” he said.

Looking back on the growth of the SHGs to 55,000 groups as of today, the Chief Minister said this movement did not start on economic factors but on saving mothers’ lives when faced with high MMR.

“These issues made us delve deeper into the problem and we realised that it goes far beyond the medical attention needed to reduce MMR and started to focus on the factors that led to the problem,” he informed .

He informed that this led to providing better nutrition, family planning, economic opportunities and empowerment of women and the exponential growth of SHGs.

On the economic growth of the state, the Chief Minister said that Meghalaya is the second fastest growing economy in the country and said, “This economic growth has been because of government expenditure, capital investments to trade but also because it has been driven by the growth at the grass roots and the self help groups have added to the growth story.”

Further stressing on the importance of the self help groups, he said that by creating an institutional network with motivated and hardworking members, such organisations can become transformational forces.

Lauding the SHGs or bringing in a difference, the Chief Minister said, “I hope that this spirit and desire of helping one another and working together will continue to drive this transformation.”