SHILLONG: A day after the Opposition alleged corruption in the implementation of a central electricity project being executed by the NPP-led government, Power Minister James Sangma on Wednesday said that the government could not waste its time on an inquiry just because someone has made an allegation.
He, however, said that if such allegations are substantiated with facts, the government would look into it.
Congress MLA and former chief minister Mukul Sangma, on Tuesday, alleged the Saubhagya scheme was steeped in corruption. The scheme is a central project to provide electricity to all households.
However, the Power Minister said that allegations will be made by the Opposition as is its wont, but it is important to substantiate such charges.
Claiming that there is no irregularity in the implementation of the scheme, he said that Mukul Sangma needs to provide more specifics.
The Opposition leader had alleged that the award of contract is more than 50 per cent of the total estimated project cost while there are many projects under other programmes that are in the process of implementation at the same rate.
He had also stated that since there are limited bidders qualifying for the project, they can manipulate its cost.
Besides, he had informed that the tender value was Rs 1 73, 60, 00, 000 and the allotted amount was Rs 2 55, 58, 89, 424 for package A (Khasi and Jaintia Hills). For Package B (Garo Hills) the tender value was Rs 179 crore but the allotted amount was Rs 270,37,84,681.
However, Sangma maintained that the tender value went up as initially when the scheme was submitted there were different schedules of rates which are not prevalent today and hence the variation.
Stating that he would give a detailed reply on the floor of the House in the upcoming session, Sangma stated if there are any irregularities in the scheme, the government would look into it, but it will not react to flimsy allegations.
