Shillong: The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), in collaboration with the Government of Meghalaya, is organizing a two-day National Conference on the theme “NextGen Administrative & e-Gov Reforms” on 13–14 July 2026 in Shillong, Meghalaya. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, and Shri Conrad K. Sangma, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, will address the inaugural session of the National Conference. The conference will bring together policymakers, administrators, technologists and governance practitioners from across the country to deliberate on the future of public administration and digital governance.
Smt. Nivedita Shukla Verma, Secretary, DARPG, DoPPW & MDoNER, Government of India, and Dr. Shakil P. Ahammed, Chief Secretary, Government of Meghalaya, will also address the inaugural session.
More than 300 delegates, including senior officers from the Central and State Governments, District Collectors, policymakers, domain experts, representatives from academic institutions and practitioners in public administration, are expected to participate in the Conference.
The two-day conference will feature presentations on Prime Minister’s Award-winning Initiatives (2023 & 2024), National Awards for e-Governance-winning projects, Best Practices from the Government of Meghalaya, and DARPG assisted State Collaborative Initiatives (SCI) from the North Eastern Region. The presentations will cover diverse themes including holistic development of districts, digital governance, cyber security, public service delivery, health, education, consumer protection, banking, urban governance, rural development and technology-enabled governance.
The Conference will commence with a dedicated session on Best Practices of the Government of Meghalaya, highlighting the State’s innovative governance initiatives and citizen-centric reforms that have strengthened service delivery and administrative efficiency.
This will be followed by a session on Prime Minister’s Award-winning Initiatives (2023 & 2024), showcasing exemplary district-level innovations and governance models that have demonstrated measurable impact in areas such as Holistic Development, Education, Rural Livelihoods and the Aspirational District Programme.
The third session based on National Awards for e-Governance, 2026 winning Projects will present cutting-edge digital governance initiatives from Ministries, State Governments, Urban Local Bodies and public institutions. The projects will demonstrate the transformative use of emerging technologies in sectors such as Urban Governance, Healthcare, Digital Banking, Pilgrimage Management, Panchayati Raj, Consumer Protection and Cyber Security, offering scalable models for replication across the country.
A dedicated session on Development of the North Eastern Region will focus on transformative initiatives led by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and the North Eastern Council (NEC), highlighting innovative interventions in bamboo and agarwood value chains, tourism, regional infrastructure, project monitoring and inter-state collaboration for sustainable development.
The Conference will also feature a special session on DARPG/State Collaborative Initiative (SCI)-assisted Best Practices from the North Eastern Region, presenting innovative governance projects from Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. These initiatives showcase technology-enabled public service delivery, project monitoring systems, digital governance platforms, consumer grievance redressal mechanisms and public safety solutions developed with DARPG’s support to strengthen governance capacities in the North East.
The Conference aims to provide a national platform for sharing innovative governance practices, fostering collaboration among States and Union Territories, and promoting the adoption of next-generation administrative reforms. The Conference seeks to accelerate digital transformation in governance, strengthen citizen-centric public service delivery, encourage replication of successful governance models, and facilitate knowledge exchange on emerging technologies and best practices for building a transparent, efficient and responsive public administration.
