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State / UT

Meghalaya

Meghalaya is a state of the Indian Union carved out of Assam, first as an autonomous state in April 1970 and then as a full state on 21 January 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. It is small in weight — about 2.97 million people at the 2011 Census across 22,429 sq km, a 60-member unicameral Legislative Assembly, two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat — and its projected GSDP for 2025-26 is Rs 66,645 crore. Its capital is Shillong, and its southern and western flank is an international boundary with Bangladesh. What makes it structurally distinctive is that almost the whole state sits under the Sixth Schedule: three autonomous district councils for the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hills hold powers over land, forests and customary law, so the state legislature is not the only law-making authority inside its own territory.

Updated

Meghalaya
vectorized by user:Freemesm · Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Capital
Shillong
Formed
Autonomous state 2 April 1970; full statehood 21 January 1972
Legislature
Unicameral — Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, 60 seats, five-year term
Lok Sabha seats
2
Rajya Sabha seats
1
Population (2011 Census)
2,966,889
Area
22,429 sq km
Districts
12
GSDP (2025-26, projected)
Rs 66,645 crore
Coverage since 19708 recorded events ·100% from official & primary sources
1970–1974: 3 events19701980199020002010–2014: 1 event20102015–2019: 1 event2020–2024: 2 events20202025–2026: 1 event

Role

Meghalaya is one of the smaller units of the Indian Union by every conventional measure of weight. It sends two members to the Lok Sabha and one to the Rajya Sabha, its 2011 Census population was just under three million, and its projected GSDP for 2025-26 of Rs 66,645 crore places it near the bottom of the state table. Its legislature is a single 60-member Assembly elected for five years; government is formed by whichever combination can reach 31. Since 1972 the state has run the ordinary State List machinery — police and public order, land revenue, agriculture, health, school education, local government — and, like most north-eastern states, it depends heavily on Union transfers rather than its own tax base to do so. The 2025-26 budget targeted a fiscal deficit of 3% of GSDP against expenditure of Rs 27,598 crore.

What distinguishes Meghalaya as an actor is that the state government is not the sole authority inside its borders. Almost the entire state falls under the Sixth Schedule, and the Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills Autonomous District Councils hold constitutional powers over land, forests, inheritance and customary law. That division shapes what the state can actually do: land is largely community- and privately-held rather than vested in the government, which is why coal extraction developed as a dispersed, owner-operated activity and why the National Green Tribunal’s April 2014 ban on rat-hole mining struck at the economy’s structure rather than at a licensed industry the state could simply re-regulate. Two further features define its external position: a southern and western international boundary with Bangladesh, which makes the state a Ministry of Home Affairs concern; and an inter-state boundary with Assam that has never been fully settled — Meghalaya was carved out of Assam, and Shillong was Assam’s capital before the separation. Electorally, the state has been an outlier from national patterns: since 2018 government has been formed by a coalition of regional parties, and no national party has held the Chief Minister’s office in either of the last two terms.

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Timeline since 1947

  1. reference

    Meghalaya constituted as an autonomous state within Assam

    The Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act, 1969 created an autonomous state comprising the United Khasi and Jaintia Hills and the Garo Hills, with its own legislature but still inside Assam.

    source 1

  2. reference

    Full statehood under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971

    Meghalaya became a full state of the Union on the same day as Manipur and Tripura, with Shillong as its capital. The Legislative Assembly, established in 1970 as an autonomous-state body, was reconstituted as a directly elected House.

    source 1source 2

  3. reference

    Sixth Schedule autonomous district councils constituted

    The Khasi Hills (Shillong), Jaintia Hills (Jowai) and Garo Hills (Tura) Autonomous District Councils operate under the Sixth Schedule, which grants self-governance to Scheduled Tribe hill areas. They are a second tier of law-making inside the state's own territory.

    source 1

  4. reference

    National Green Tribunal bans rat-hole coal mining

    The NGT prohibited the rat-hole extraction technique that had underpinned Meghalaya's coal economy — annual production was around 6 million tonnes at the time of the ban. Transport of coal already extracted before 17 April 2014 was permitted separately. The technique continued to be used in unauthorised operations, with fatal accidents recorded in 2018, 2021 and 2025.

    source 1source 2

  5. reference

    Assembly election produces a hung House; NPP-led coalition takes office

    The Indian National Congress finished largest with 21 of 60 seats but the National People's Party (20) formed government at the head of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance with the UDP (6), BJP (2), PDF (4), HSPDP (2) and others. It ended two consecutive Congress terms.

    source 1

  6. reference

    Eastern West Khasi Hills created as the twelfth district

    The state's district count reached 12, the administrative grid through which state departments and the district councils both operate.

    source 1

  7. reference

    Assembly election returns the NPP-led alliance; regional parties dominate

    The National People's Party won 26 of 60 seats and formed a government under the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. The UDP took 12, the AITC and INC 5 each, the newly formed Voice of the People Party 4, the BJP and HSPDP 2 each, PDF 2, independents 2. Turnout was 86.81%. One seat polled on 10 May 2023.

    source 1

  8. reference

    State budget: GSDP projected at Rs 66,645 crore, fiscal deficit targeted at 3%

    The 2025-26 budget projected GSDP growth of 13% over 2024-25, expenditure excluding debt repayment of Rs 27,598 crore against receipts excluding borrowings of Rs 25,627 crore, a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,970 crore (3% of GSDP), and debt repayment of Rs 2,405 crore.

    source 1

Frequently asked

What is Meghalaya?
Meghalaya is a state of the Indian Union carved out of Assam, first as an autonomous state in April 1970 and then as a full state on 21 January 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. It is small in weight — about 2.97 million people at the 2011 Census across 22,429 sq km, a 60-member unicameral Legislative Assembly, two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat — and its projected GSDP for 2025-26 is Rs 66,645 crore. Its capital is Shillong, and its southern and western flank is an international boundary with Bangladesh. What makes it structurally distinctive is that almost the whole state sits under the Sixth Schedule: three autonomous district councils for the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hills hold powers over land, forests and customary law, so the state legislature is not the only law-making authority inside its own territory.
When was Meghalaya established?
Meghalaya was established 1972-01-21.
What does Meghalaya do?
Its remit covers State List subjects: law and order and the state police, land and land revenue, agriculture, health, school education, and local government, Shares jurisdiction with three Sixth Schedule autonomous district councils (Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills, Garo Hills) that legislate on land, forests, inheritance and customary law, Administers 12 districts; minerals-based economy centred on coal and limestone, constrained since 2014 by the National Green Tribunal ban on rat-hole mining, Manages an international boundary with Bangladesh and an unsettled inter-state boundary with Assam.
What is the latest on Meghalaya?
As of 2026-07-17: State budget: GSDP projected at Rs 66,645 crore, fiscal deficit targeted at 3%. The 2025-26 budget projected GSDP growth of 13% over 2024-25, expenditure excluding debt repayment of Rs 27,598 crore against receipts excluding borrowings of Rs 25,627 crore, a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,970 crore (3% of GSDP), and debt repayment of Rs 2,405 crore.

Official sources

The government's own pages for this institution — go straight to the primary.

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