SHILLONG, March 21: The Congress on Sunday said the state government should evaluate the performance of Power Minister James Sangma rather than leave it to the Opposition.
“The Power department’s non-action has led to cumulative liabilities. It is not for us to decide whether or not the Minister is functioning. It is for the government to evaluate him,” East Shillong MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh said.
Referring to the recently concluded Budget session of the Meghalaya Assembly and the debates on the Power department, the Congress legislator said the government should decide whether or not these discussions had merit.
“We cannot take a call on that. Apart from answering two questions, the government always beat about the bush,” she said, reminding of power failures while the House was in session.
She also criticized the Power Minister for not giving straight answers to their queries. “Not only were most of our questions unanswered, but they also resorted to a blame game and diverted attention from the main question,” she said.
Lyngdoh also said the MDA government did not maintain the sanctity of the House with its casual approach on the issues related to the Power department.
Congress had cornered the NPP-led government on the issue of MeECL in the Assembly during the Budget session. Around that time, Thma U Rangli-Juki, a civil society group, had held the Power Minister responsible for the mess in the MeECL and demanded his resignation.
The Power Minister had brushed aside the allegations as baseless and said MeECL was slowly recovering due to positive steps taken by the government.
