Shillong: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma admitted Wednesday that gaps persist in Meghalaya’s maternal and child healthcare system. He defended state interventions despite a recent tragedy in West Khasi Hills. An infant died on October 2 after his parents carried him on foot for nearly three hours. They traveled from Domkyrkoh village in the Rambrai C&RD Block. Local drivers refused to enter the village at night because of poor road conditions. They demanded the family bring the sick child to Mawdet instead. No transport arrived. The parents walked the next morning. The baby died on the way. They turned back.
Sangma labeled the death unfortunate. "It should not have happened," he stated. The Chief Minister claimed he lacked full details on the specific incident but insisted the government aims to stop all preventable deaths. He pointed toward the Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Programme as a counter-balance to the loss. The state currently runs over 200 safe motherhood homes and uses digital monitoring for high-risk pregnancies. Officials claim these systems have provided more than one lakh government-funded trips for expectant mothers.
The administration reports a 57% drop in maternal mortality over the last four to five years. Sangma noted that other states and the Prime Minister’s Office have shown interest in this healthcare model. Road connectivity remains a primary hurdle for medical emergencies. The Chief Minister cited financial constraints as a major barrier. He argued the state built more roads in the last eight years than in the previous 25 years combined.
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