By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Turning the heat on the Chief Minister over alleged anomalies in the appointment of lower primary school teachers, the leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Conrad Sangma has said Dr Mukul Sangma would be held responsible if he does not take action against his Cabinet colleagues allegedly involved in the scam unearthed by the CBI.
“The Chief Minister is totally wrong on his approach,” Conrad Sangma told newsmen here on Monday.
“The Chief Minister should realise the importance of the issue and take action against those involved in manipulation of marks,” he said adding, “It will set a bad precedence to defend the guilty and the Chief Minister will be responsible if he does not take action,” he said.
It may be mentioned that the Chief Minister had refused to comment on the entire revelations and instead wanted to find out the main source of leakage of the CBI report which virtually had indicted the then Education Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh under whose instructions the score sheets were manipulated.
Criticising Dr Sangma for seeking a report from the State Chief Secretary on how CBI report was leaked to the media, Conrad said the Chief Minister should “avoid shooting the messenger.”
According to him, people who had given the order for manipulation must be punished.
The CBI report named some ministers and legislators whose recommendations were taken into consideration while selecting candidates for the post of assistant teachers in government lower primary schools two years ago.
Reacting to a query on the high-level committee consisting members from the Education department constituted to probe the scam, the Opposition leader said the State Government is just trying to defer the issue.
“Since CBI has unearthed the scam, now it does not call for any other body to investigate the matter,” he said.
UDP demand: Meanwhile, demanding removal of the Urban Affairs minister, the UDP said, “She (Ampareen) should be removed on moral and legal grounds as her continuance in office has become untenable since she has not shown any inclination on her won to quit office.”
The UDP general secretary BG Momin said this in a letter to the Chief Minister on Monday.
“We would like the Government to restore the original list to do justice to all the affected candidates,” Momin said. Terming the departmental inquiry as announced by the Education Minister Prof RC Laloo as an eyewash, the letter said, “Instead, the Government should facilitate a fair and speedy trial and not impede the course of justice in any manner”.
Meanwhile, the State BJP, West Khasi Hills Student Union (WKHSU) and RBYF have demanded the State Government to take immediate action against those named in the CBI report.”It is hard to believe such illegal practices are taking place in our education system. The most shocking part is that the main person who is involved in this scam is the former Education Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh who was a teacher herself,” WKHSU education secretary S Rangslang said while addressing newsmen here on Monday. The BJP has also expressed shock over the statement of the Chief Minister that the source of the leak of CBI report should be found out instead of taking action against those involved. “It is strange that the Chief Minister, instead of addressing the message has rather resorted to shoot the messenger”, BJP general secretary Dipayan Chakraborty said. The BJP leader said that all those who were named in the inquiry should face action.