Editor,
In Palestine they have the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine located on Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem. It is a site for bitter confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis. In Shillong we have the collapsed Dome of the yet to be inaugurated Legislative Assembly building, testimony to a political system that has meekly surrendered before the demands of bare-faced corruption. It has become a disgrace; an embarrassment; a shame for the state and its people. On the other hand it is fast becoming a rallying point for a political entity that has lost all sense of shame.
People still harbour a hope against hope that what is being said and circulated about law makers they themselves voted to power, is wrong and misleading. Unfortunately it is a Hope that is fast disintegrating with each passing day. More than a month has passed since the disgraceful roof leaks and crumbling walls of the ISBT at Mawiong. More than a week since the Dome came crashing down in the early hours of last Sunday. It was clear to everyone, but our honorable (never understood why they are given such prefixes) Legislators, that both instances exhibited obvious cases of public swindling. People waited for action but action never came. In its place came instead lame excuses, cover up attempts, concealment efforts to protect the guilty. So, the question in people’s minds – do we still have a Government, Of the People, For the People and By the People or has that been substituted by a Government Of the Corrupt, By the crooked and For the dishonest?
How are the people, however simple they might be, expected to swallow the lame and pathetic excuse that newly constructed buildings (the ISBT) always leak, by the bucketful. That newly constructed cemented walls will always crack, that plastering can be scraped off with a piece of metal to reveal being filled up with foam and rubber pieces and that all this is quite normal in government construction! Would the Minister Transport who made this ridiculously childish statement have tolerated such lapses if the building was personally his? I think NOT! If the roofs of their personal buildings had come crashing down in the early morning hours, without rhyme or reason, would the Chief Minister and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly been content with an investigation by a vague 3rd party and with a report (with no time frame) from a High Powered Committee? Again I believe NOT! So why should an agitated public be contented with such statements that seek to hide rather expose corruption in high places in government? So do we now have a group of Carpetbaggers instead of publicly responsible elected law makers in Meghalaya? ( Carpetbaggers – an American slang for economic and political opportunists who are perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, and/or social gain.)
Now here is a layman’s take on both the sleaze cases mentioned above. The ordinary man believes and knows that a crime of cheating and fraudulent dishonesty; a criminal endeavor to swindle the public exchequer; a deliberate attempt to rob the public has been attempted at both places and that it attracts Sec 415 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Such attempts constitute a serious criminal offence and that a FIR against either the Contractor executing the works or the Supervising Officer of the Government under whose watch the offence took place or for both, is called for. The Government must act under the Rule of Law. Pathetic attempts to hide or shield corrupt contractors, officers and perhaps even politicians operating behind the scenes is not in public interest. An FIR followed by a warrant of arrest for those suspected of being involved in the crime is immediately called for. Police investigation on the matter can then take its own course. However, if this Government and the political parties that form the MDA wish to take the side of the public, then this is the time to act. It is the time to enforce the Law not attempt to bury it!
Yours etc.,
Toki Blah,
Via email
Governance gone to the dogs!
Editor,
The latest string of events highlighting pathetic and deplorable construction of the new State Assembly at New Shillong Township is another reaffirmation that corruption and self-greed knows no bounds. The sad part is the lack of a thorough public audit that should be part and parcel of the government. Instead what we see is the lack of political will. The new ISBT assisted through the NEC is another scandal that is still awaiting more skeletons to fall in the coming days. The way the current MDA dispensation led by the NPP is performing is a true reflection of how policy implementation in every nook and corner of the state has failed. However, it is not fair to blame the state bureaucrats. The blame lies on the lack of political sagacity, political foresight and political will to make things happen. We need policy-makers and legislators to legislate laws in the overall interests of the coming generations, but, with the kind of politics that the state is witnessing it is doubtful if we will ever see any change in 2023 if the same parties in the game return to power.
Yours etc.,
Dominic Stadlin Wankhar,
Via email
Financial prudence goes out of the window-2
Editor,
I stumbled upon an article yesterday night where the secretaries of the various central government departments in a meeting with the Prime minister warned that many states in India could go down the Sri Lanka way because of the poor health of their finances.
Let me just focus on Meghalaya. Meghalaya’s interest payment on the loans it has taken is Rs 1011.9 crores in 2021-22 whereas the estimated revenue collection is around Rs 3000 crores for the same financial year. So it means that almost 33 percent of the revenue collection will go to interest payment alone. I don’t how many of our legislators knows about the health of the state finances; probably very few understand this. The Chief Minister holds the Finance portfolio, so he’s expected to be one of the few who has a grasp of the economic scenario of our state. What I can’t understand is the grand announcement by the Chief Minister last year that Meghalaya had received Rs 700 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for promotion of tourism. The announcement is ambiguous. JICA provide assistance to developing countries through technical assistance, grant-in-aid and concessional loans. The Chief Minister didn’t specify whether the amount received is a grant-in-aid or a concessional loan. If the amount received is a loan the question that arise is: Why such a huge amount of loan for tourism when the tourism sector in the state is mostly nature and adventure based and when the State is already burdened with so much liabilities??
Other states with a high debt to GSDP ratio borrowed primarily with the goal to spend on welfare schemes .Kerala’s debt to GSDP ratio is almost at the same level as Meghalaya but it’s poverty level is only 0.7 percent. On the other hand our poverty level is 32.67 percent. The sad part is the huge disparity in the poverty levels of different districts. South Garo Hills poverty levels according to the multi-dimensional poverty index report published by NITI AAYOG is only 11.27 percent whereas in the coal rich Jaintia Hills, poverty level is 46.16 percent!
Will the Government deign to reply to these questions!
Yours etc.,
Gary Marbaniang,
Via email
MeECL Rejoinder
Editor,
Apropos of the letter to the Editor ST Dated Tuesday, May, 24, 2022 ” A request to MeECL” the Corporation would like to clarify the following.
Three phase supply is already available in Mawpdang Village. In fact MePDCL has also upgraded the 100 KVA transformer (3 Phase) located at Mawpdang Pdeng Shnong to 250 KVA transformer (3 phase) on the 10th May 2022 and further extension of the three phase supply will be taken up after considering the overall requirement of the village. However if an individual consumer requires additional load, he has to bear the expenditure for such up gradation.
It is also informed that 2(two) new 33/11 KV substations near Umroh and near New Assembly Building will be ready by this year. This will further improve the overall power supply scenario in the area.
Yours etc.,
AK Jain
Public Relations Officer
MeECL, Shillong.