TURA, March 23: The blame game for the financial mess in the GHADC continues unabated as electioneering takes off for the April 12th polls with the latest salvo being fired by NPP President and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma who lashed out at the opposition Congress and its previous Executive Committee for leaving the district council in acute financial crisis by illegally appointing hundreds of employees that drained the coffers of the oldest autonomous institution in the Garo Hills.
The chief minister on Tuesday launched the official campaign of his party-NPP from the time tested political venue of his late father P A Sangma in Adokgre village in North Garo Hills- nicknamed Chenanggre or the land of victory. The place assumes immense importance for the family of Late P A Sangma as it has always been the launch pad for every successive election campaign.
“Today the Congress is pointing fingers at the NPP that it cannot run the GHADC nor pay salaries to the employees. But everyone knows who is to blame. From a number of about 1000 staff the GHADC employees list rose to over 2000 because the then Congress EC in GHADC made over a thousand illegal appointments between 2015-2016. The salary bill which stood at around Rs 3 Crore suddenly rose to Rs 6 crore. How could the district council sustain itself? These illegal appointments totally drained the council treasury and its negative impact remains to this day,” said chief minister Conrad Sangma during his campaign rally at Adokgre.
He also took a swipe against former Congress MLA and ex-MDC Cherak W Momin, currently the Congress candidate from Kharkutta, questioning him about his role when he was part of the GHADC as an MDC.
“The Congress candidate is now speaking about reforms since elections have arrived. What was he doing when he was MDC and simultaneously an MLA and parliamentary secretary in the government of Meghalaya? Voters must ask him and every other candidate for their answers,” demanded the chief minister.
Presenting a comparison between the then Congress EC and the current NPP led EC in the district council, chief minister Conrad Sangma told the public gathered that while the Congress encouraged illegal appointments, it was only after the NPP took the reins of the GHADC that ‘positive’ concrete steps have begun to streamline it.
“Previously, employees used to be given cash directly in their hand during salary disbursement. But we have stopped that and transformed the system so now all employees get their pay directly into their account. This has ended misappropriation,” says Conrad Sangma.
Denying accusations about turning a blind eye to the plight of the district council and its unpaid employees, the chief minister said that in the current financial year the state government had released Rs 25 Crores as additional funds to help tide over the financial crisis.
“The money was released by my government solely to help pay salaries of the employees and it was given in advance (credit) because we wanted to help the GHADC which was facing a severe financial crisis. After all, both GHADC and the state administration are being run by our NPP alliance,” said Conrad Sangma.
The chief minister has dismissed talk of a ‘resurgent’ Congress in the GHADC and believes the numbers game remains with the NPP.
“Mark my words! Congress will not get the numbers. Also, people in Garo Hills know that a Congress led EC in GHADC will be handicapped and unable to function without the help of the state and the central governments, in which the Congress is nowhere to be found,” cautions the chief minister.