SHILLONG, July 22: The Trinamool Congress made no bones in ridiculing Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma’s suggestion that MLAs should use their own funds to rebuild dilapidated schools.
“Let students bring bricks and teachers bring cement!” — The biting sarcasm, layered with frustration, exposed, what the Opposition termed, a disgraceful abdication of duty by the state government.
Mocking the minister’s remarks as nothing short of a governance joke, TMC leader Richard Mrong Marak slammed the idea that elected representatives must moonlight as masons and contractors because the government can’t get the job done.
“Lo and behold! Rakkam says MLAs should rebuild schools with their own funds. Why stop there? Let students bring bricks and teachers bring cement! When the Education Minister moonlights as a contractor, you know governance has gone missing,” Marak said.
Sangma had earlier claimed that government resources alone were insufficient to overhaul the state’s crumbling school infrastructure, and called upon all 60 MLAs, two MPs, and district council members to pitch in.
He cited his own example of using Rs 2 lakh from the MLA scheme to renovate 45 schools in his Rongara-Siju constituency. But instead of praise, the minister’s remarks triggered a storm of criticism. The TMC accused the government of hiding behind performative appeals instead of putting in place systemic reforms and adequate funding.
