TURA, Dec 16: The NGEA on Wednesday strongly condemned the statement of District Council Affairs Minister, Lakhmen Rymbui who recently said that the government was not responsible for payment of employees’ salaries of the GHADC.
Reacting to the statement, the NGEA said that if it (Government) was not responsible for payment of employees’ salaries, why it was withholding the release of royalty share to the GHADC which it was entitled to do.
With regard to the statement made by the Minister that Rs 18.20 crore had been released to the GHADC which, however was meant for development activities that were included in the plans and estimates and cannot be diverted to pay the salaries, the NGEA countered that if that was the case, the amount should also not be used for clearing and payment of pending bills to contractors.
The NGEA also questioned the silence of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for three years on the pending salary issue reminding that it was his party which was at the helm in the GHADC during the period.
“It was the NPP which was in power in the GHADC from 2015 to 2020 and they have totally failed to resolve the pending salary issue. Our salaries have been pending since March 2018 till date,” President of the NGEA, Senora Johny Arengh said.
The NGEA also suggested to the District Council Affairs Minister that before carrying out various developmental projects in Garo Hills, the government should first think about feeding the employees who are starving to death.