SHILLONG, March 27: The controversy surrounding the Covid expenditure of Rs 816 crore has resurfaced once again. After doing the rounds during the election campaign last month, the matter has now found place in the Assembly with VPP legislator from North Shillong, Adelbert Nongrum asking the state government to declare the actual amount spent out of the funds allocated by the Centre for Covid-related activities in the state.
Raising a zero-hour notice on the matter on Monday, Nongrum recalled that the then Health minister (James Sangma) had stated on the floor of the house in September 2022 that the amount received from the Centre was Rs 76.56 crore.
Referring to RTI findings, Nongrum said that the activist, who received the documents from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, revealed that the central release of grants in aid through NHM on the India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package for Meghalaya was Rs 15.61 crore in Phase-I and Rs 104.12 crore in Phase-II, leaving Rs 43 crore unaccounted for.
“I am not aware of any Covid-19 activity continuing after September 12, 2022. I am of the view that the people of the state at large would like to know the exact amount spent by the state government out of the funds allocated by the Centre,” the VPP legislator said.
In her reply, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said that the Centre came up with an emergency Covid response package during the pandemic to support the efforts of the state towards fighting Covid.
Informing that the state government was provided funds in two packages through the NHM, she said that funds provided under Phase-I are 100% centrally funded while under Phase-II it encapsulates a 90:10 funding pattern between the central and the state government, respectively.
Phase-I was for the year 2020-21, while Phase-II was for the year 2021-22, the minister said.
“The question asked in the assembly in the autumn session of 2022 was regarding the amount spent from central and state respectively for Covid intervention. Thus, the answer that was mentioned was Rs 76.56 crore in this house,” she said.
According to her, the RTI filed with the Union Ministry had asked for the amount of sanction to which the reply given on January 20, 2023 was Rs 104.12 crore.
“I would like to mention that the amount mentioned in the RTI is correct. However, the reply given during the autumn session was about the money that was spent already,” Lyngdoh clarified.
She also added that sanction for one major component of the package — setting up of a critical care block — amounting to Rs 21.38 crore was given much later than the other components.
“The work has just begun for them and no financial progress has been made so far. Therefore, the amount that has been misunderstood as missing has not been spent, and shall be released, based on the physical progress of the sanctioned work,” she added.
