Ardent censures govt for ‘lacking will to take State forward’

SHILLONG: HSPDP MLA Ardent Basaiawmoit has slammed the government for not doing enough for the development of the State. Participating in the debate on the Governor’s address in the Assembly on Wednesday, Basaiawmoit mocked the Government stating that “it is yet to learn how to prepare a memorandum of understanding (MOU)”.
He also criticised the government for not having the political will and seriousness to take the State forward.
The Nongkrem MLA alleged that the government is deliberately making faulty agreements “to hand advantage to the second party” in deals which have cost the state exchequer crores of rupees in out of court settlements over the years. He cited the examples of the jinxed Crowborough project and the Meghalaya House Kolkata project in this regard.
Basaiawmoit also said that the Governor’s address had nothing new to offer and there was no specific mention of the achievements of the government. “The various schemes and projects highlighted in the address were confined to some constituencies and districts only,” Basaiawmoit said.
“It seems the government is driven by politics when it comes to deciding on its policies and programmes,” he added.
Basaiawmoit observed that there was no mention of the unemployment problem in the State in the Governor’s address. “Government jobs have become saturated and it is not possible to absorb everybody in the public sector,” he said.
He lamented that the government has not taken any effort to promote the local produce, especially the indigenous species which could have been marketed at the global level.
“If ladies finger grown in Gujarat can be found in other parts of the world why are oranges from Meghalaya not available there,” he asked.
“The failure of the government to provide the names of the villages that produce oranges shows the lack of interest on its part,” Basaiawmoit said.
He also noted that while a bifurcated Andhra Pradesh has inaugurated its new assembly within a short span of time, Meghalaya was yet to have its own assembly for over 16 years now.