SHILLONG: The State government had resorted to lavish spending just for the inaugural function of the then newly constructed Meghalaya House in Kolkata, a year ago, thereby making the State exchequer poorer by over Rs.40 lakh.
The State government spent Rs.40,84,130 for the inauguration of the Meghalaya House at Russel Street, Kolkata on January 12, 2015 as per the reply by the General Administration department to an RTI query by The Shillong Times.
The hundreds of invitees for the inauguration included the entire cabinet of West Bengal, officials of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Police department, Pay and Accounts Officer, all consulates in Kolkata, all corporate houses, North East houses in West Bengal, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, former Chief Minister D.D. Lapang, the Meghalaya Cabinet, MLAs, MDCs, senior officials, officers of GAD, PWD and Tourism departments and their families, besides the staff and the officers of Meghalaya House Kolkata. Residents of Meghalaya living in Kolkata were also invited.
Besides, a media team from Shillong, Doordarshan and All India Radio, Shillong were also part of the invitees to cover the function.
Out of the hundreds of invitees, how many actually attended the function is yet to be known.
The expenditure worth several lakhs of rupees incurred were under the category of event management, catering arrangements, accommodation charges, food bill, hiring charges for crockery and cutlery supplied, supply of Meghalaya traditional food and hiring charges for the private vehicles for the invited government officials.
Incidentally, the State government had taken over the Meghalaya House from the construction agency, M/s Asian Housing and Infrastructure Pvt. Limited (AHIPL) in August, 2013, but organised the inaugural function with great pomp and show almost a year and a half year.
The construction of the new Meghalaya House at Kolkata was mired in controversies ever since 2001 after the then UDP led coalition government under E.K. Mawlong had entered into a joint venture deal with the then Asian Housing Construction Limited. The deal did not take off following protests from the pressure groups and the ministers within the Mawlong government stating that it was more beneficial to the construction company, which ultimately resulted in the fall of the government.
Later, the Congress led government allotted the work to the same company at a cost of nearly Rs.50 crore, double of what was agreed upon during the tenure of Mawlong.
However, the new condition was that after the completion of the building, the company will not have any say unlike the agreement arrived at in 2001.
