It took the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah to tell the people of Meghalaya that they are citizens of the most corrupt state in the country. But if Amit Shah thinks this revelation is new, he does not know this State enough. Corruption in Meghalaya started in the late 70’s just a few years after it attained statehood. Corruption has only spiralled as if this is the natural trajectory. Now corruption has taken a new meaning under the NPP-led MDA Government which in the first instance withdrew general consent to the CBI for investigating cases of graft in March 2022. The MDA Government did this to stave off the CBI from investigating the illegal coal mining and transportation scam, the Saubhagya scam, rice scam and then the Assembly dome scam. Shah might not have realised the extent of under-development in the state until he reached Garo Hills and saw tell-tale signs of a region lagging behind in human development and infrastructure both.
Amit Shah is aware that the two BJP MLAs who are part of the MDA Government have been rendered mute spectators to the crimes taking place in Meghalaya. For what is corruption if not a crime against the people? They should have blown the whistle louder since they have the tacit support of the government at the Centre. But their’s was a muted response. Charmed by ministerial perks the two MLAs preferred to ride on with the MDA till date. When the Saubhagya smart meter scam where a preliminary report by the C& AG revealed excess payment of Rs 149 crore for procurement of Chinese made smart meters was called out by the media, Satnam Global the firm responsible for the scam filed a defamation case against a section of the media. Following a public outcry an enquiry commission was formed to investigate the matter. A retired judge from UP was handpicked and so too members of the Committee. How could a government involved in a scam be allowed to handpick people to enquire into the scam? This was a dead giveaway that the Government was leading the people of Meghalaya on a wild goose chase.
Then came the rice scam where rice meant for Megahalaya’s poor were diverted to some other states from a godown in Assam. Again a farcical committee was set up to go into this scam too, but without a free and independent agency looking into the matter it was a foregone conclusion that it would become a non-starter where the MDA government would have and is having the last laugh.
With so many scams the coalition partners of the MDA Government namely the UDP, PDF and BJP should have been on the defensive but public memory is so short that the above parties are not batting an eyelid. It remains to be seen if the public will punish the scam-tainted parties or vote them back so they will deal a death blow to the state.