SHILLONG, Dec 22: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said FOCUS and FOCUS+ is an ongoing scheme that has been made universal and as long as the criteria are followed, people are eligible for it.
“Focus and Focus+ started in 2021 and it is not a new scheme. It has been going on for two years and many people have benefitted. But if somebody would like to give some political colour to it, then it is the observation of that particular person. I have nothing to say about it,” Sangma said.
The remarks come close on the heels of the charge of some MDA constituents that Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) is misusing the scheme for its own benefit in the upcoming Assembly elections. They alleged although the scheme is rural-based, people from urban areas are being given its benefit.
The United Democratic Party (UDP) had shot off a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, complaining against the misuse of the scheme by certain Ministers and MLAs associated with the NPP.
In his letter to the CEC, UDP vice president Allantry F Dkhar alleged these legislators are misusing the scheme in direct contradiction towards the officially declared beneficiaries who are farmers of Meghalaya.
Responding to the charge, Sangma said, “People can make any kind of statement. We have been doing this programme for the last two years and it has been going on in different parts of the state.”
“This is a programme and a scheme that we have made universal. There are certain criteria you need to follow and as long as those criteria are followed, you are eligible to get the benefits,” he added.
In the letter to the CEC, the UDP vice president had said Meghalaya has launched a welfare programme of Rs 200 crore in response to the financial troubles that farmers had experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the anomaly is the fact that certain MLAs, as well as Ministers, are blatantly distributing such schemes in areas where farming is not possible, which goes to show that schemes are being misused for political gains.
