Party to prepare charge sheet on corruption in central schemes
SHILLONG, Feb 11: Raising voice against corruption has become a customary practice of the State BJP ahead of any election in Meghalaya.
The party did it vociferously ahead of the Assembly elections in February last year. Many party leaders, including the top brass of BJP, termed Conrad Sangma “the most corrupt Chief Minister in the country” in the run-up to the polls but quickly teamed up with Sangma’s NPP for a second time to form the MDA 2.0 Government in the state.
This time, with the Lok Sabha polls due in around two months, the State BJP has upped the ante against corruption in Meghalaya and the party is all set to bring out a charge sheet against the state government for suppressing the people at the grassroots by denying them the benefits of the various central government schemes.
“We have started the process of filing RTIs as we know what is happening in the villages be in the Jal Jeevan Mission or free rice or exorbitant electricity bills. We are getting details from the public and we just want to know what the officials have to say about it in black and white,” State BJP vice president and Tura MDC, Bernard Marak said on Sunday.
Stating that the people who are suppose to get the schemes are not getting it but people with political affiliations are benefitting, Marak said, “It is not as per the vision and initiative of the Prime Minister and that is why we are trying to rectify it.”
“We will collate all the detail and submit them to the Centre. We will even prepare a charge sheet and submit it from our level as these are our schemes and should be reaching BPL families and not just any Tom Dick or Harry,” he added.
Informing that RTIs applications have been filed with as many as six departments, he said, “More are on the way. We are receiving more inputs as we tour more villages.”
The State BJP vice president claimed that apart from the shoddy implementation or no implementation of the central schemes, the state government has not even provided relief to the flood-affected victims of Garo Hills till date.
“In 2022 there was a massive flood in South Garo Hills and several families lost their source of livelihood and shelter but they are still waiting for relief from the government,” he said.
He also accused the state government of not repairing the hanging bridges in Maheshkhola areas despite funds being sanctioned, thereby depriving the students of their right to education.
“There are hanging bridges connecting one village to another in Maheshkhola which have not been repaired till today and when the rainy season comes the students cannot cross the river. Even the basic facilities like hanging bridges which have been sanctioned by the Border Area Development Ministry have not been repaired,” he claimed.
He further claimed that despite free rice being sanctioned by the Centre, families are getting less rice and are being forced to pay Rs 10 per kilo for the “free rice”. In addition, the officials are charging between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 for providing LPG connection under the Ujjwala scheme, he said.