TUR slams govt over revenue leakage

SHILLONG, Sep 19: The Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR) has cast aspersions on the state government over revenue leakage of over Rs 700 crore, incomplete projects and non-submission of utilisation certificates (UCs) as reported by the Comptroller and Auditor general (CAG).
In a statement issued on Monday, TUR member Angela Rangad said the audit report also mentioned about under utilised funds, bad budgetary estimates, decline in the share of Agriculture in the GSDP and the story of misgovernance in Meghalaya.
“The period covered in the report predates the COVID induced disruption and one dreads to think what the post-COVID CAG reports would reveal. What is shocking is also the inability of the legislature to learn from the CAG reports and act upon its recommendations,” Rangad said, pointing out that the MDA Government has turned into a government of consultants but has not been able to turn Meghalaya’s finances around.
“In a state where financial powers and planning are concentrated in the hands of bureaucrats, the consultants are being used to hide the systemic failure, inefficiency and leakage of funds to the political-businessmen nexus,” Rangad added.