SHILLONG, Dec 1: The Trinamool Congress on Thursday termed the state government’s decision to set up police outposts along the state’s border with Assam as mere eyewash.
Party stalwart Mukul Sangma wondered if the government will implement it completely.
“Have you asked the government whether they will completely implement it or not? When you are talking about police outposts or upgrading any existing establishment, won’t you require manpower?” he asked.
Accusing the state government of deliberately depriving the youths who wanted to be a part of the police organisation, he said, “There are thousands of youths who had applied for the vacancies, advertised in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Those vaccines are not filled up even today.”
He said there was a case of abduction in South Garo Hills and the police could not go after the criminal as they did not have the manpower in the Nongalbibra police station.
The vacancies have accumulated over the years and those in the district force were filled up by transferring the commandoes of elite SF-10, he said.
“The SF-10 battalion was created with a clear-cut purpose, with so much investment to deal with challenges pertaining to militancy and civil unrest but they have shifted them to different DFs. This is the government’s deliberate intent of depriving the youth as they want to divert this money available for the salaries of the youths to something else to satisfy their ever-swelling greed,” the leader of Opposition said.
He said he had once checked the list of applicants for the post of data entry operators in South West Garo Hills and found that the applicants were highly educated while the posts were for under-graduates.
He said this was due to the mess created by the government.
Sangma was particularly critical of the state government’s failure to deal with the law-and-order situation.
“Today you see a police officer assaulted inside a police station and the perpetrators are allowed to go scot free. The political leaders and executives at the helm of affairs have betrayed the people by setting other priorities instead of concentrating around the larger interest of the people. This is precisely the reason for the lawlessness,” he said.
Register case against KAAC CEM
Sangma also asked the state government to register a case against Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang for inciting the people through provocative statements.
The CEM of KAAC claimed that Mukroh village falls under the jurisdiction of Assam. A man who holds a constitutional position is adding fuel to fire,” he said.