SHILLONG, Dec 29: Fearing that it might meet the fate of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) on Tuesday asked the state government for early release of the council’s share of revenue.
Non-payment of salaries for over two years allegedly compelled some 30 employees of the GHADC to retire.
KHADC CEM Titos Chyne told The Shillong Times that the government was delaying in releasing the council’s share of taxes, pending since 2018-19.
“The government made a partial payment recently but we still get Rs 20-30 crore as our share of taxes. We are pressurising the government to release the dues early,” Chyne said.
He warned that the council might face a lot of problems, including disbursement of salaries to its employees if the government delays further in making the payment.
On the KHADC’s financial condition, Chyne said the situation as of now is under control.
The employees of the GHADC and the authorities are at loggerheads over non-payment of salaries to the employees. The state government maintains that it is not its responsibility to bail out the GHADC of the financial crisis.
On the views of some people that ADCs should be done away with as Meghalaya is now a full-fledged state, Chyne said ADCs are constitutional bodies with powers vested on them by the Constitution of India.
“The indigenous tribes of the state have this separate institution and we want to strengthen it as we are a small state and we want to protect our identity,” he added.