TURA, Dec 16: The Non Gazetted Employees Association (NGEA) on Wednesday castigated District Council Affairs Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui, in the wake of his assertion of denying state government’s responsibility towards payment of employees’ salaries of the GHADC.
Reacting sharply to Rymbui’s statement, the NGEA said that if the government is not responsible for paying salaries to GHADC employees, why it was withholding the release of royalty share to the Council, which it was entitled to do.
With regard to the statement made by the home minister that Rs 18.20 crore was released to the GHADC for development activities included in the plans and estimates, and which cannot be diverted into paying the salaries, the NGEA said if that was the case, the amount should also not be used for clearing and paying the pending bills to contractors either.
Questioning Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s silence for nearly three years over the issue of salary, the NGEA said that it was his party which was at the helm of 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 has, meanwhile, suggested the government to minister to the Council staff first before carrying out various developmental projects in Garo Hills.
