Shillong, March 27: Congress MLA from Umsning, Celestine Lyngdoh said that the major achievement of the NPP led MDA 1.0 regime was the emergence of the “high level tribe”.
“Meghalaya is inhabited by three major tribes- Khasi, Jaintia and Garo. But now we have the ‘high level tribe. This new tribe has been allowed to prosper under the watch of the MDA 1.0 Government,” Lyngdoh said while taking part in the discussion on the budget during the ongoing Assembly budget session here on Monday.
He said that the state police have lost face in front of the High Court of Meghalaya due to the ‘high level tribe”.
According to him, the High Court in its rulings which is available in public domain had openly made a remark that it has lost the trust in the Meghalaya police.
“The High Court has demanded that CISF will be brought into the state to check the activities of this new tribe. Is it because of the incapability of the state police that the CISF will be brought in,” the Congress legislator from Umsning said.
Lyngdoh further observed that the state police forces is at risk of losing its face for trying to adjust to all impossible demands of the people in power.
He mentioned that it is written in the budget speech that the ultimate goal of all government interventions is well being and happiness of the citizens.
“I doubt whether our happiness will really go up or it will go down if we are being tagged as number one in corruption in the country. I am sure if the happiness indicators of our people can be improved then we will have fewer numbers of “I Love You”. We have read, a few days back brother of “I Love You” was involved in another crime” the Congress legislator from Umsning said.
Stating that he understands that government does not have to reply to every Tom, Dick and Harry when they make allegations, he however said that allegations of terming Meghalaya as the most corrupt state have come from a very important person in the country.
“So can we just ignore it? And that allegation is made not in a tea shop, or in any corner somewhere. This allegation made in a big election rally where thousands of people were present. So this really affects our image,” Lyngdoh said.
According to him, the observation has come from people who have made many famous one liners for the country like “na khaunga na khane dunga” ((neither will I indulge in corruption, nor allow anyone else to indulge in it).
He further observed that this has affected the image of the students and people who are working outside the state
“It has affected our image. Our children cannot show their face. And this also happens to a state that is called a Christian state,” he said.
Pointing out that these allegations are not unfounded, he said that where is the Saubhagya scheme report where it is alleged that about Rs 149 crore have been misappropriated and where is the Smart Meter scam?
He further mentioned that one lakh bags of PDS rice were detected in Boko in Assam and this cannot be just a simple mistake.
“These are all backgrounds where these VIPs make the allegations about Meghalaya being number one in the country in corruption,” he said.