The aspirational-village framing
NITI Aayog's Aspirational Districts Programme (2018) identified lagging districts on a composite of health, education, agri, financial-inclusion and infrastructure indicators. Meghalaya extended the template to the village level in 2022, choosing 42 villages across 12 blocks (mostly in West Garo Hills, South West Khasi Hills, East Jaintia Hills) that fell in the bottom decile on drinking water, sanitation, last-mile road, livelihood and food-security indicators. The CM's Aspirational Village Development Scheme (CM-AVDS) saturates these villages with a ₹1-crore-per-village basket combining housing, sanitation, water, last-mile road, livelihood (livestock + kitchen garden), and organic certification. Scheme outlay since launch ~₹120 cr.
Eligibility
- Village notified as an Aspirational Village by the state Planning Department.
- ST household (Khasi, Jaintia, Garo) residence required for individual sub-components.
- FPO/SHG eligible for cluster sub-components within the village.
- Village Council (Dorbar Shnong / Nokma) endorsement required for any sub-project on community/clan land.
What the village gets — the bundled package
- Housing under PMAY-G convergence: ~₹1.30 lakh + ₹16,000 toilet for kutcha-house households; saturated village-wide.
- Last-mile road: bituminous/concrete road connecting the village to the nearest motorable road (PMGSY- convergence + state top-up where PMGSY does not apply).
- Drinking-water spring revival: spring-shed mapping, recharge structures, distribution pipeline (Jal Jeevan Mission convergence).
- IHHL: individual household toilet saturation under SBM-G.
- Kitchen-garden seed kit: 7 — 9 vegetable varieties (chilli, brinjal, tomato, dolichos bean, ginger, turmeric, mustard) for every household.
- Livestock starter pack: piggery (5-sow unit), poultry (50-bird unit) or dairy (2-cow unit) per beneficiary household.
- Organic certification: village-level PGS- India cluster registration; ICS deployment under MOVCDNER / Mission Organic Meghalaya convergence.
- Tourism / homestay grant: where village has cultural/landscape draw (Mawlynnong-pattern), 50 % subsidy on homestay infrastructure.
How to engage — step by step (village-side)
- Village Council (Dorbar Shnong / Nokma) passes a resolution requesting AVDS inclusion or accepting a notified inclusion.
- Block Development Officer collects baseline socioeconomic data for all households.
- Planning Department finalises village inclusion; DAO, Engineering, RD and Sanitation departments form a joint implementation cell.
- Per-household and per-village components rolled out over 3-4 quarters in coordination with the council.
- Mid-term and end-of-cycle reviews by the District Planning Officer; corrective interventions on under-performing indicators.
Latest changes (2024 — 2026)
- March 2024: Second cohort of 28 villages added; cumulative coverage at 70 villages.
- September 2024: Spring-revival sub-component scaled with Jal Jeevan Mission convergence — 540 springs mapped across the cohort.
- February 2025: Lakadong-cluster villages in East Jaintia Hills designated for accelerated organic- certification under Mission Organic Meghalaya within AVDS wrapper.
- October 2025: Tourism/homestay sub-component scaled with Meghalaya Tourism Department signing MoU with 21 villages.
- 2025-26 outlay: ₹80 cr (state) for third cohort of villages + ₹120 cr convergence (PMAY-G, JJM, PMGSY, SBM, MOVCDNER).
Common rejection / under-performance reasons
- Dorbar resolution split: village council divisions slow approval of community-land sub-projects.
- Land documentation: clan-land (Ri-Raid / Ri-Kynti) documentation gaps in housing component.
- Terrain/transport cost overrun: in steep South West Khasi Hills, last-mile-road component costs overrun budget.
- Spring choice contested: where multiple springs feed the village, revival prioritisation requires council resolution.
- Beneficiary attrition: livestock starter packs sometimes monetised rather than retained; mid-term review intervenes.
Coverage statistics
As of late 2024, ~70 villages had been notified across two cohorts. ~3,500 PMAY-G houses sanctioned. ~540 springs mapped and 280 revived. Over 8,000 kitchen-garden kits distributed. ~2,100 livestock starter packs disbursed. The third cohort (2025-26) is expected to bring an additional ~30 villages, with priority for South West Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills.
How this stacks with other schemes
AVDS is the saturation wrapper; central schemes provide the components. MIDH funds horticulture infrastructure; PMAY-G the housing; JJM the water; PMGSY the road; SBM-G the sanitation. State-level CM Farmers' Allowance provides the household cash transfer; Mission Organic Meghalaya the certification; Lakadong Mission the high-value-crop layer in East Jaintia Hills.