Meghalaya Govt to come up with film policy & OTT platform entitled “Hello Meghalaya”

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 24, 2023

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the Government will come up with a detailed film policy to encourage shooting of films in Meghalaya and take steps to strengthen the local film industry.

This was informed in the floor of the House by Sangma while presenting the first budget speech of the MDA 2.0 Govt.

The first ‘Meghalaya International Film Festival’ held this month was success, Sangma informed a scheme for providing subsidies for construction of cinemas, music and film studios will be crafted.

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He also said that the government is also building an OTT (over-the-top) platform ‘Hello Meghalaya’ to provide income to local artists and quality content for all the citizens by hosting local content while futher added that for 2023-24, an amount of Rs. 15 crore is budgeting to support these initiatives.

The Chief Minister apprised that the Youth Budget is being presented for the second time along with the budget estimates. He also said that the Youth Budget has been increased from the estimated amount of Rs. 1,789 crore in 2022-23 to Rs. 2,215 crore in 2023-24, an increase of 24%.

Arts, Crafts and Music continue to be powerful ways to engage the youth, the Chief Minister informed that the ‘Meghalaya Grassroots Music Program’ has seen 500 artists provided with platforms to perform.

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The success of the Meghalayan Age store in Delhi and launch of the online store has provided opportunities for another 500 crafts persons, Sangma said that these two programs will be scaled up significantly in 2023-24, with an investment of Rs. 10 crore. The Meghalayan Age Store in Shillong will be inaugurated by the end of 2023.

He also said that the Government will continue to support traditional festivals and celebrations including the Shad Nongkrem, Behdienkhlam and Wangala.

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The Chief Minister informed that tourism festivals and events like the Shillong literature festival, the Cherry Blossom festival and the Me.gong festival will also be supported. These events promote local employment, increase tourist inflow and build Meghalaya as cultural, art and music powerhouse, he added.