That a coalition partner of the MDA Government – the BJP – should expose the scam in the three district councils of Meghalaya is rather unusual. The pressure of seeing a coalition government complete its full term normally sees coalition partners push all differences under the carpet and also sealing their lips about any scam. In the present case the scams seem to have crossed all norms of decency. That a person or persons should be paid a whopping 58.25 crore for documentaries by the Garo Hills District Council (GHDC) is scandalous. This is a big amount by any standards. And to think that about 2000 employees of GHADC had been going without salaries for 25 months up to April this year and had been raising their voices time and again without any redressal is a slur on the Council and its complete lack of accountability. The Council appears to be run like a private fiefdom with all family members of the ruling party the NPP enjoying the perks.
By definition a coalition government is one in which political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that “coalition”. The usual reason for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the election and this has been Meghalaya’s political history where no single political party has ever won an absolute majority. In the past collations governments have been formed on the agreement that the post of chief minister would be on rotational basis. And coalition partners in Meghalaya have always respected each such agreement and even worked under a common minimum programme. This is the first time that a coalition does not even have a common minimum programme thereby giving the impression that all the coalition partners have decided to remain subservient to the senior partner the NPP which has 21 MLAs, while other parties have only single digit numbers.
Allegations that a road built on paper at a cost of Rs 84.79 crore does not exist makes it appear that all public funds meant for development have been diverted to private pockets. All these scams lend credence to the allegations that the ADCs are white elephants that benefit the ruling elite and leave the people at the same disadvantaged status. If at all there is need to conserve tribal customary practices then the ADCS seem to have lost their moorings. The permissions given to mine coal and limestone at great cost to the environment and its people is one instance of a grave failure of the ADCs to protect the interests of tribals that they claim is their mandate. There is an urgent need to unearth the scams and bring the perpetrators of such scams to book.