By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Jan 20: The Voice of the People Party (VPP) declared on Saturday that it would step up its nonviolent protests and fight against corruption. It also said that it was open to a debate on the Lokayukta’s laws and governance with Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong or anybody else from the government.
“We are ready to debate whether it is with Tynsong or anyone they want to on the Act and rules of the Lokayukta to expose who is trying to conceal the truth,” VPP president and Nongkrem MLA, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said.
Regarding the benefits of appointing serving officers rather than retired ones, Basaiawmoit responded to Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong by saying that Tynsong wants serving officers because retired officers won’t fear or listen to them, but serving officers will have to obey the government.
“And for the childish statement of Tynsong we want to say that even if the officers are related to him we will still fight for their rights because we will not leave anyone behind,” Basaiawmoit remarked in reference to another comment made by Tynsong that the retired officers who were fired were related to the VPP members, which is why there was such a commotion.
“The government should not forget that the public is with us and I urge the public to join us in this war against corruption which poses a grave threat to our state,” he said, announcing that the protest will pick up more steam starting on Monday.
Tynsong had made it abundantly evident on Friday that they would not be calling the VPP for negotiations or bringing the officers back.
“We did that because it is clearly stated in the Rules and Acts that serving officers should be appointed,” Tynsong had stated.
He had also dismissed allegations that the government removed the three officials since they unearthed a scam involving the brother-in-law of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
Activist backs VPP’s movement
Social activist Kingstone Bolwari Sangma has backed the movement launched by the Voice of the People Party (VPP) against the “illegal” and “unreasonable” termination of three inquiry officers of the Lokayukta.
In a statement on Saturday, Kingstone said he firmly believes the VPP’s decision to protest the termination of the trio is genuine.
He said he does not believe there is any political motive behind the movement as the main objective is to eliminate corruption and ensure the reinstatement of the trio. He called upon the people of the state to support the movement and denounce corruption.
The activist said he supports the VPP’s demand to immediately sack all those who were appointed through the backdoor under the MDA government which is led by the National People’s Party (NPP).
Reacting to the statements of Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and NPP spokesperson HM Shangpliang, he said Section 10(2) of Meghalaya Lokayukta Act, 2014 never stated that only the officers in service should be appointed as Director of Inquiry and Director of Prosecution of the Lokayukta.
“Therefore, there is no bar to appoint retired government officers as the officers of the Lokayukta, as such appointment is legal and valid,” Kingstone claimed.
He said the tenure of the three officers was of three years. If the government found that there were anomalies in their appointment, it could have issued some kind of a notice to them instead of terminating them from service, the activist said.
He pointed out that the Lokayukta had charge-sheeted NPP MLA Sanjay A Sangma with the help of the three officers and they were monitoring the ongoing investigation against Twinkle Newar Sangma, sister-in-law of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and contractor of the Garo documentary film which remains incomplete till date.
Earlier, the Lokayukta had ordered an inquiry following complaints by the activist about non-implementation of projects under various central schemes in the GHADC, based on a complaint lodged by Kingstone.
The inquiry, as per the order, is into 38 projects awarded to current CEM, Benedic R Marak’s constituency Raksamgre as well as against contractors Sanjay A Sangma and Dolrich D Sangma. Sanjay is the CM’s brother-in-law.
The activist alleged the termination of the three officers was a gross violation of Article 311(2) and many other service rules framed therein.
Kingstone said when (retired judge) BK Mushahary was the Chairperson of the Meghalaya Lokayukta, FD Sangma, a retired government officer, was appointed as Director of the Prosecution wing of the Lokayukta and the government allowed him to complete his term and never claimed there were anomalies.
“The justification given by the government is a lame excuse. The government had approved the appointment of those three officers after a thorough examination and proper scrutiny. More importantly, during the process of appointment, the documents of the three officers moved through Personnel department, Finance department and other departments. None of them questioned the legality of their appointment,” Kingstone said.