SHILLONG, Sep 15: The opposition Congress on Wednesday drew the attention of the state government and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who is in-charge of Finance department, on the need to ensure smooth flow of funds for timely execution of projects, especially those related to the education sector.
Drawing the attention of the House, Congress MLA from Nongpoh, Mayralborn Syiem, questioned the government on the delay in construction of the polytechnic institute at Nongkhrah-Pahambir in Nongpoh.
In response, the Minister in-charge of PWD (Buildings), Dasakhiatbha Lamare, said, “Due to non-availability of land, the work could not start in time. The work was stopped between February 2020 and November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and again from April 2021 to August 2021 due to non-availability of fund”.
On steps taken to speed up the project, the minister pointed out that the department has asked the concerned contractor to continue with the work in anticipation that fund would be available shortly. The issue of land settlement has been taken up in consultation with the local MLA, he added.
To another query on the deadline for completion of the project, Lamare said that it has been rescheduled to December 2022 on the condition that flow of fund is regular.
To yet another query, the minister replied that the total sanctioned amount was Rs 8.38 crore, which was subsequently revised to Rs 7.05 crore. The estimate includes civil work and internal electrical work and excludes external electrification and construction of the approach road.
When the Congress MLA wanted an assurance from the minister, Lamare said, “I can assure that we will do our best to complete it on time”.
Not satisfied, Syiem sought an assurance from the Chief Minister, who responded stating that the concerns have been noted.
Meanwhile, Siju MLA, Rakkam A Sangma, also raised a question on the status of the construction of polytechnic institute in South Garo Hills, to which Lamare said it is 20 per cent completed but no funds have been released.
