Shillong, Dec 21: The United Democratic Party (UDP) which is a constituent of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) led by the National People’s Party (NPP), has lodged a complaint in black and white with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) about the misuse of FOCUS and FOCUS+ programmes fund by a section of MLAs and ministers in the state by distributing money under the scheme in areas where farming is not possible.
The UDP has, therefore, requested the CEC office to take steps to prevent such misuse so as not to deprive the farmers, the targeted beneficiaries under the programmes.
The Chief Minister FOCUS and FOCUS+ is a farmers welfare programme worth Rs 200 crore that was launched provide relief to small farmers who faced serious financial trouble because of COVID19 pandemic. Targeted farmers are grouped into producer groups for this programme and each member of such a group is provided with Rs 5000 as seed money to help farmers scale up their operations.
