Tura, Sep 9: The Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) has hit out at the recent statement of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, wherein he asserted that the ongoing protest by non-gazetted employees of the GHADC was something that the Council itself needed to solve as its functioning was independent of the state.
Employees of the GHADC have continued to protest for over two weeks now over more than 35 months of unpaid salaries as well as the delayed implementation of the 5th Pay Commission in the GHADC despite written assurances of the state government and the Council itself. “This is now a major worry for all Garo Hills residents. It is obvious that GHADC’s financial circumstances have gotten worse and that there are still several obstacles to overcome. Among the seventeen departments that currently make up GHADC, it is mainly the departments of Forestry, Land and Revenue, Justice and Civil Works that are among those that bring in revenue for the Council,” stated MPYC vice president Timjim Momin.
He felt there was a need for members to be transparent in their dealings to overcome the situation but the GHADC has long been the scene of widespread corruption and extravagant spending, which have severely harmed the system.
“The council’s overstaffing was a direct outcome of corruption that increased tensions. Additionally, the institution has crumbling Infrastructure and lacks financial rules, service rules, among others that need to be updated. The overview is that these build-ups are due to the shortcomings of the state’s MDA government and the NPP-led EC in the Council,” felt the youth leader. Our GHADC had been governed by the NPP-led EC for many years. Such conditions may have been avoided if they had been effective and genuine enough. On the other hand, they had not made an attempt to reconstruct the Council and had instead declined.
The people of Garo Hills mandated the NPP government to run GHADC better but on the contrary, it made the situation worse today.
On the reluctance of the state government to intervene into the current situation, Timjim reminded the NPP leaders as well as the CM where, in the run up to the previous elections to GHADC, they stated that the state and central government were required for the Council to function effectively and that only the NPP, as the party in control of the state government, effectively had the ability to significantly alter the status quo.
“Since the NPP now controls the state and the Council for years, the CM’s recent statement that the GHADC is an autonomous body and that the state government is not accountable for the current crisis demonstrates their inability to manage and their deceit of the Garo community for electoral Purposes,” alleged Timjim.
The youth Congress leader, through his comments, pleaded with the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to accept responsibility and to step in right away to intervene in the ongoing crisis.
