Paul dares TMC leaders on rice ‘scam’

SHILLONG, June 12: Social Welfare Minister, Paul Lyngdoh on Monday said Trinamool Congress leaders Mukul Sangma and George B. Lyngdoh can depose before Mool Chand Garg, the retired judge who headed the panel to probe the alleged rice scam if they feel something is amiss.
He was reacting to the TMC slamming the National People’s Party-led MDA 2.0 government for giving a clean chit to those behind the ‘scam’ without even caring to make the inquiry report public.
Lyngdoh said he had shared the report with the media and requested the TMC leaders to read the report.
“Have they read the report? Have they deposed before the retired judge who headed the commission? You have all the liberty. If Kong Agnes (Kharshiing) can go, why cannot Mukul Sangma or George Lyngdoh?” he asked.
He said the inquiry report, which was submitted to the government, had ruled the allegations of the rice ‘scam’ as baseless.
George Lyngdoh, the state TMC vice-president had earlier said: “It is almost a hundred days since the new dispensation came to power and there is no electricity, no jobs, no water and now, no scams.”
“The recent statement from the government on the rice scam is not a surprise to the citizens since it has become routine for the government to brush away any allegations of corruption,” the TMC leader said.
Recalling that the misappropriation of the FCI rice that was supposed to go to ICDS centres or units was a startling revelation, he said, “After the rice was caught, the chief minister immediately rose to the occasion and conducted a press conference with several ICDS food items being displayed during the press conference.”
“The sudden reaction of the CM then had caught everyone by surprise since he was busy clarifying a matter that needed thorough investigation,” the TMC leader said.
“The CM’s press conference to clarify the confiscation of Meghalaya rice from a godown in Assam was questionable. It indicated that he knew about the rice that had gone to Assam. It was as if he had been caught with his hands inside the rice bags,” he added.