Shillong, August 12: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday said the state has the talent to produce successful candidates in the UPSC and other national competitive examinations, but needs to build a stronger ecosystem of guidance, training, financial support and mentorship to help aspirants realise their potential.
Speaking at ‘Ascent 2026’, a seminar organised by the Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI) at its campus in Mawdiangdiang, Shillong, Sangma said the government’s CM-Inspire programme was designed to create such an ecosystem.
Attended Ascent 2026 at MATI, a seminar focused on building a strong ecosystem for success in UPSC and other competitive examinations, and distributed CM-Aspire cheques to seven candidates who cleared the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
Meghalaya has no shortage of… pic.twitter.com/q7AKGBoiZu
— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) August 12, 2026
He said Meghalaya could have produced “much, much higher” numbers of candidates clearing the UPSC and other national competitive examinations because “there is no dearth of talent” in the state.
“The challenge lies in providing that ecosystem, in bringing the stakeholders together, creating the correct environment, guiding our students and the aspirants in the right way, and helping them to achieve that goal at a personal level, and also the goal for us as a state,” he said.
From 30,000 young athletes to an Olympic dream
Sangma compared CM-Inspire with the government’s STAR Programme, launched about five years ago by the Sports Department.
Under STAR, the government went to villages and screened almost 30,000 youths, some of whom had never worn running shoes or undergone athletic testing before. The programme eventually identified 10 athletes whom Sangma described as “super athletes” – among the top 1% of talent globally.
The selected athletes have since been brought to Shillong and are being provided education, nutrition, psychological counselling, physiotherapy, physical training and coaching.
“The programme also sends them to national and global centres of excellence for specialised training. The government’s target is for one of these athletes to win an Olympic medal in 2036,” Sangma said.
He said the same philosophy of identifying talent, setting ambitious goals and building the required support system was being applied to competitive examinations through CM-Inspire.
During the programme, the Chief Minister and other dignitaries distributed CM-Inspire cheques of ₹50,000 each to seven candidates who cleared the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination.
Sangma said the programme should not be viewed as a one-off intervention, but as part of a larger effort to create systems across different sectors.
“We are creating a system at every level. Whether it’s an entrepreneurship ecosystem, a music ecosystem, a sports ecosystem, or a competitive exams ecosystem — the same formula, the same structure, is what we are now replicating in different areas,” he said.
‘It’s not just about Meghalaya’
For Sangma, the larger objective extends beyond improving Meghalaya’s UPSC results.
“It’s not just about Meghalaya. We want the youth of Meghalaya to contribute to nation building,” he said, imagining a future in which someone from the state becomes Home Secretary or Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India.
Sangma also pointed out that competitive examinations extend well beyond the UPSC. “It’s not about just one exam. There are 20–30 such exams. There is so much scope that people are not even aware of,” he told the aspirants.
Sangma recalls his own experience
Addressing an audience comprising largely aspirants and students, along with teachers and parents, Sangma shared personal experiences of failure and resilience.
He recalled losing the 2004 election, saying he was upset for two months. He then reflected on what had gone wrong and worked on addressing those shortcomings.
“Some of you are here saying, ‘I want to crack the exam.’ Cracking the exam is one part. But ask yourself in your heart: why do I want to be an IAS officer?” he said.
Building a culture, not just a programme
Sangma said the government was trying to create a wider culture of sports, innovation, STEM and entrepreneurship in Meghalaya, alongside the competitive-examination ecosystem.
Sangma also explained his broader approach to governance, describing it as an “infinite game” rather than a finite political contest.
“For me, governance is an ongoing game. In game theory we talk of finite games and infinite games. Governance is infinite. It just goes on. There’ll be one government today, another tomorrow, or the same government continues. But governance continues and requires governments, leaders and officials to work towards goals 20 or 30 years into the future,” he said.
Sangma also invited aspirants and stakeholders to provide suggestions on improving CM-Inspire, saying the government did not assume that everything was perfect. He encouraged young people not to fear failure and said the most important thing was to make the effort.
“Failure is not in our hands. But not trying is definitely in our hands. So I want to try,” he said.
During the programme, MATI Director Swapnil Tembe spoke on the challenges and strategies for improving Meghalaya’s performance in the UPSC examination. Director General, MATI, Cyril Diengdoh, was also present.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated MATI’s Digital Learning Lab during the event.
