Office work, salary disbursement hit on Day 1 of stir against ‘scam’
TURA: GHADC Chief Executive Member Denang T. Sangma on Thursday accused the protesting members of the Garo Students’ Union and the Federation of A’chik Freedom of misleading the council authorities and the district administration on the alleged embezzlement.
The students’ organisations, which have called for a two-day protest against the alleged money laundering by the ruling NPP-BJP-GNC alliance, began the demonstration on Thursday outside the premises of the Garo Hills District Council headquarters in Hawakhana.
Protesters picketed the office from before the working hours and barred employees from entering the premises despite heavy security deployment. Work at the GHADC office was stalled for the day.
CEM Sangma said the daylong strike severely disrupted the process of disbursement of two months’ pending salary to its employees.
“They did not give us or the administration any information about office picketing and had said all along it would be a sit-in demonstration. But they went as far as putting a lock on the main gate of the council office and preventing employees from entering,” an annoyed CEM said when contacted for his comment on the protest. The GHADC officials lodged a complaint with the DC in this regard.
“We were planning to release the pending salaries by the end of this week and work was already underway when the office picketing disrupted it,” the CEM said, adding, “Many parents will be impacted by this two-day strike because with their salaries they would have been able to pay school fees of their children and obtain the results of the final term.”
He reiterated that his executive committee would not be in a position to answer to the demands of the agitating groups since the matter is already in the High Court. “If anyone files an RTI we will provide necessary documents and reply,” Sangma said.
The second day of the protest is expected to witness a similar scene.
The agitating groups are demanding that the council provide evidence of implementation of schemes using the central fund amounting to Rs 100.71 crore as there are allegations of siphoning off the fund by ruling alliance MDCs.