By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 24: While Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma defends the 188 political appointments made by the MDA government, Congress MLA Saleng Sangma viewed them as a wasteful expenditure of public funds.
Questioning the contribution of these political appointees to the economy of the state, Saleng disagreed with the CM’s claim that only Rs 12 lakh is being spent on them. He said the CM apparently has not shared all details as the political appointees are entitled to different kinds of perks, such as house rent allowance, TA/DA etc apart from salary.
Altogether 30 political appointees are receiving perks and other benefits under Category A+, while the rest are being provided with facilities under categories A, B+, B and C. Only two political appointees, Jemino Mawthoh and Subodh Menon, who have been appointed as advisers to the Planning department, hold honourary positions.
Earlier, Saleng had accused the NPP-led government of working on the lines of BJP at the Centre by neglecting the local people.
Lamenting over the large scale appointment of consultants from outside the state, he questioned the state government for not engaging local people in consultancy firms despite the availability of expertise.
Saleng accused the CM of misleading people with his claim that more than 2 lakh people have been employed in the state. He said the government has not produced any evidence to back the claim. “The CM is dodging the reality and talking about CM Elevate, Focus etc., but what about the dropouts in the state?” Saleng asked.
He said even the SSA teachers in the state are being neglected as their salaries have not been enhanced. He said the government seems to be also least bothered about temporary employees.