SHILLONG, May 2: KHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM), Titosstarwell Chyne on Sunday asserted that the Council would put pressure on the state government to release the funds earmarked by the 15th Finance Commission.
“We will not surrender meekly since the decision of the state government to release the funds to the PHE department is illegal as Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) are the Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) as per the Finance Commission guidelines,” Chyne said here.
According to him, before diverting the funds to PHE, the state government has to prove that the department is the RLB for implementation of the fund.
“Otherwise, the state government has no authority to divert the funds earmarked by the Finance Commission to the ADCs,” the KHADC CEM said.
He also questioned a recent statement by PHE Minister, Renikton L. Tongkhar mentioning a conflict between the Urban Affairs and the PHE departments over implementation of the GWSSS Phase III under the JNNURM projects.
“The conflict over funds released by the Finance Commission is a different issue since we are an autonomous body. The government has no authority to take a call on issues concerning the Council,” Chyne said.
The KHADC CEM also revealed that they have sought an appointment with Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma to discuss the issue, and are likely to get a confirmation of the meeting on Monday.
Earlier, the PHE minister had justified that his department should implement the funds earmarked by the 15th Finance Commission.
“The government had released the funds to the PHE department since it was meant for water supply and sanitation. I don’t think there is anything wrong in this,” Tongkhar had stated.
The minister had also recalled a similar conflict between the PHE and Urban Affairs departments over the implementation of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) Phase III funded by the Centre under the JNNURM scheme, which was later rechristened as AMRUT.
“Finally, the work for the implementation of the GSWSS Phase III was allotted to the PHE department. Even in this case, PHE was awarded the work despite MUDA being the nodal agency for the JNNURM projects,” Tongkhar had stated.
It may be mentioned that as per the directive of the Centre, 50 per cent of the funds earmarked by the 15th Finance Commission should be for water supply and sanitation.
Out of the total amount of Rs 91 crore released by the Finance Commission to the state government, Rs 45.50 crore was released to the PHE department since it was meant for water supply and sanitation.
The Centre had released Rs 45.50 crore from the tied grants and a similar amount from the untied grants.
