Power Minister Abu Taher Mondal today informed the Assembly that a total of 53 villages have been covered and benefited under the Saubhagya scheme under Mawkynrew block until February.
In response to a further query by Mawkynrew MLA Banteidor Lyngdoh, Mondal said that out of 72 villages only 53 were covered under the scheme because of fund constraints.
Informing that the original detailed project report (DPR) of the scheme was made for Rs 1,914.3 crore for the entire state, he said that this was cut down to Rs 1,189.58 crore as the 667 villages covered under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gramin Kaushal Yojana Phase 1 and 2 were to be removed from the DPR.
In the end, only Rs 657.05 crore was sanctioned even from the reduced DPR.
Umsning MLA Dr Celestine Lyngdoh said that there are numerous allegations in the implementation of the Saubhagya scheme and asked if any irregularities and misappropriation of funds has been detected in the implementation of the scheme.
The minister said following the various allegations made, the state government instituted an inquiry that submitted a report for the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL) to comment on. This the public sector utility has done and now comments have been invited from the Finance Department.
“Only after this will it be known if there are any irregularities or misappropriation of funds in implementation of the scheme,” Mondal said.
Meanwhile, Mawkyrwat MLA Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar asked the government to cover villages that have not been electrified under the scheme, including remote ones in his constituency.
Mondal replied that the government will take the initiative to provide electricity to every village.
