SHILLONG: The Khasi Heritage Conservation Forum (KHCF) has alleged that vested interests are orchestrating acts to malign its image and sabotage the Monolith Festival.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, KHCF members stated that much attention has been drawn to the amount given by the KHADC to the KHCF for conducting the Monolith festival which is a project of the Council.
“However, little importance is being given to the matter of huge sum of money belonging to the KHADC being transferred to the personal accounts of the relative of the then secretary of the KHADC and other individuals,” the KHCF members said.
The KHCF added that it had requested for a loan of Rs 35,00,000 from the KHADC to compensate villagers and vendors involved in carrying out the various works during the Monolith Festival, 2016 as it awaits the release of money generated through sponsorship from different agencies.
The KHCF informed that the full amount of the loan has been repaid to the KHADC.
It also stated that being the recipient of the loan does not make the KHCF complicit in the alleged irregularities indulged in by the former secretary of the KHADC, as the loan amount was requested on an official basis.
As to the investment of the KHCF on media during the Monolith Festival 2013, the members of the KHCF asserted that the significance of the festival could not be emphasised without the corresponding investment in media. The KHCF also took “little credit” for the “Spectacular Meghalaya” tweet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Mawphlang. “The carefully crafted cultural activities initiated and implemented during the two editions of the Monolith Festival (added to Mawphlang’s attraction).”
Asserting that the KHCF was dragged into the controversy, the members stated that the first attempt to malign the Forum was post the Monolith festival 2013 when it was pulled into the controversy surrounding the construction of the Heritage Village.
“The KHCF has nothing to do with the construction work. It only organised the festival on its premises,” the KHCF statement said.
