TURA: Large-scale corruption in connection with construction of Tikrikilla College Complex have been unearthed by social organizations of Tikrikilla who have accused the then college governing body of conniving with the contractor and keeping them in the dark on the status of the on-going work in the project. The construction of the college complex was sanctioned by the DoNER Ministry in 2009 and the same has been reportedly abandoned since 2010 with the contractor in charge of the project also going missing since then. According to Walseng Sangma, a social activist from Tikrikilla, the DoNER Ministry under NLCPR, Govt. of India had approved the administrative and financial amount of Rs 483.95 lakh (90%) for the Construction of Tikrikilla College Complex with an estimated cost of Rs 537.73 lakhs in total in the year 2006. The time frame for completion of the said project was within 36 months. The Government of Meghalaya had released an amount of Rs 1,70,99,000/- to the Secretary of Tikrikilla college Governing Body on December 9, 2009. The work was allotted to one, Thinker R Marak of Rangdokram, Baghmara in South Garo Hills. According to Sangma, the governing body after allotment of final work order to the said Contractor, paid him Rs 60 lakh on March 2, 2010 for the purpose to expedite the project as it was sanctioned. Surprisingly, within a short span of time on April 5 2010, the contractor was again paid an amount of Rs 40,00,000. “We want to know why the hasty payment of Rs 40 lakh was made for the second bill when the contractor had been paid an amount Rs 60 lakh just a month before? Why was no assessment of the ground construction and financial targets as per the guidelines of the DoNER Ministry maintained?” the organizations questioned. Pointing out that the college governing body is elected by the general public every 3 years, the organizations questioned why the members of the existing body had held on to their posts despite completing more than seven years. The organizations on behalf of the general public demanded that all information with regard to the construction of the college complex is made public. The organizations have also decided to send a petition to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the DoNER Ministry in New Delhi for their intervention in the matter.
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