Regional parties should ditch the National People’s Party (NPP) and bring down the state government in order to disassociate themselves with rampant corruption, Congress leader and Rangsakona MLA Zenith Sangma said today.
Sangma also expressed his concern over the non-receipt of salaries by the employees of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) and pensions for retirees.
The financial health of the state-owned utility has plummeted because of “inefficient management of the government” and corruption, he said. The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government is surviving because of regional party support and “these regional parties are supporting the present government because they are also getting a share of the proceeds of corruption,” Sangma added.
However, it is not too late for these parties to rescue their reputation but they need to take a “conscious decision” and withdraw support from the NPP, opined the MLA.
Speaking about the health of the MeECL, which has become something of a favourite topic for him, Sangma said that the implementation of central government schemes “have created more liabilities for the MeECL due to inefficient handling and corruption.”
On top of this, the government is taking huge loans, further increasing the company’s liabilities, while being unable to clear salaries on time.
Sangma also said that if the loan repayments are more than the company can manage, it will obviously be a burden that cannot be rectified and this will lead the government to privatise the utility.
“We cannot allow the MeECL, with more than 4,000 employees, to die because of inefficient management of the government,” Sangma added.
