By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 19: As the bone of contention over the unpaid salaries of GHADC employees continues to exacerbate, especially when the Council elections are at hand, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has taken an oblique shot at his predecessor coupled with a justification that the NPP-led coalition has been successful in doling out more salaries ever since it got to power.
Speaking to the reporters on Friday, the chief minister also said that one has to realise that the delay in salaries is a built-up from many months and years before the NPP “took over” power.
“When the NPP government took over, many months of salaries were not given. In fact, if you look at the records, since the time period when the NPP took over, we have been able to clear more salaries than compared to what it was before we took over,” Conrad said.
“It is not that things just happen at one go; it is an important issue and we are trying our best to ensure that the salaries are paid. In fact, we had also paid two months’ salary from the state government’s side before Christmas, and so those aspects have been there,” he added.
With regard to the corruption in the GHADC, Conrad said, “In the corruption aspect, we have put in an audit inquiry into this entire system and we will see the reports that come out; based on that, we will decide how to move forward”.
The chief minister also seems to be upbeat about NPP forming the Executive Committee in the GHADC. He says the poll prospect for the NPP in the forthcoming GHADC elections is very positive.
To a query on MDA coalition partners contesting separately, Conrad said, “Every party is individual, every party has got its own identity and every party has a right to contest any election they want. Therefore, it is nothing surprising and nothing wrong”.
“It is good that this happens in a democracy but more importantly, as a coalition at the state level, we are together and we are committed to this government,” he added.