Shillong, Jan 22: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council on Wednesday took exception to Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong’s remarks that he is ready to go to Delhi with a begging bowl and folded hands in the interest of the people of the state.
Tynsong had made the remarks on January 18 while responding to allegations of corruption levelled by the Voice of the People Party.
HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem said Tynsong’s remarks are “demeaning” and not acceptable to the people of the state.
Stating that he never heard any political leader making such remarks, Synrem said politicians should not stoop so low to seek financial assistance from the Centre.
“We should not rely so much on Delhi. The state government should instead adopt austerity measures and not indulge in any wasteful expenditure to improve the state’s financial position,” the HYC president said.
He said the government can take steps to address the issue of revenue leakage, allegedly rampant in all departments. It is the responsibility of the political leaders of the state to formulate policies for making the state self-sufficient, he stressed.
“Why should we always beg before Delhi when we have resources and avenues to be self-sufficient? The problem with our state is that there is too much leakage of revenue,” Synrem said.
According to him, the CAG has time and again observed that the state government departments, particularly those which deal with mineral resources, are not able to generate revenue as expected due to leakage.
Citing an example, he said the government issues challans for trucks to carry mineral of 12 MT but most of them carry it beyond the permissible limits.
“The question is where the fund collected from trucks carrying excess coal goes as it does not come to the state exchequer. It goes to the pockets of some individuals. It is for this reason that we are not self-sufficient,” Synrem said.
He said the state’s expenses are more compared to the revenue that it generates.
Pointing out that the state government has engaged over a hundred consultants, he said if it pays a minimum of Rs 1 lakh per month to each of them, then the financial burden will be of Rs 12 to Rs 15 crore in a year.
“My question is why we have to engage consultants from outside when we have experts in Public Works and PHE departments. What is the job of the engineers of these departments when everything is done by these consultants,” Synrem asked, calling it a wastage of public money.
He insisted that the government should stop wasteful expenditures on the political appointees such as chairmen and vice chairmen whose expenditures run into crores of rupees. He said money spent on consultants and political appointees can be utilised in a useful way.
“If this is done, we will no longer have to go and beg from Delhi. We have our dues from the Centre like the share on taxes and royalties and financial assistance in terms of grant-in-aid etc,” the HYC president said.
Meanwhile, he said everyone is happy with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s announcement on Tuesday that he had laid the base for the construction of the new Administrative Block in New Shillong Township. The government has earmarked around Rs 15,500 crore for the New Shillong Township project.
“But the question is from where the money will come. Is it a grant or a loan, state plan or central funding? We are not aware as the CM has not specified anything,” Synrem said.
He recalled that there was a hue and cry among people recently when there were reports that the state will soon fall into a debt trap.
“Now, the government has again come up with projects worth Rs 15,500 crore. We have to be cautious and concerned. Let’s not be too dependent on Delhi,” he said.
