Anomalies in construction of Tikrikilla govt college
SHILLONG: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly has called for more stringent measures to be adopted by the Education department after a CAG report detected certain flaws in the construction of the Tikrikilla Government College which has led to loss for the State government.
Speaking to media persons after summoning officials of the Education department, PAC Chairman Paul Lyngdoh said, “There was no technical wing or technically enabled department engaged in the project which is worth over Rs 2 crore.”
Interestingly, construction of the government college went ahead sans technical expertise, he said.
“In 2009, the then Director of Higher and Technical Education had released a payment of Rs 1.70 crore to the secretary of the college managing committee and after a gap of 8-9 months, the managing committee engaged an architect to assess the expenditure following which it was revealed that Rs 34 lakh had been spent,” he added.
Expressing concern over the matter, Lyngdoh said, “The meeting called for more stringent measures to be taken including seeking help of other departments like PWD (Buildings) or such other departments that has the technical knowhow in the construction of buildings.”
As with regard to pending schemes of the department, the PAC has cautioned the department that they should follow basic norms. “The PAC will leave no stone unturned to ensure that basic parameters are conformed with,” Lyngdoh stated.
Forest officials summoned over unpaid arrears
The PAC, meanwhile, summoned officials of the Forest department to discuss the non-release of salary of home guards employed by the department.
“The salary has been pending for a very long time and after the PAC’s intervention the Forest officials have assured that the pending salary will be release in due time,” informed PAC Chairman Paul Lyngdoh.
