Mylliem MDC Ronnie V Lyngdoh has asked the state government to produce a complete breakup of the expenditures incurred in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is fine if you (the government) say you have made an expenditure of several crores of rupees on the Covid-19 pandemic but the people need to know how, where and for whom the money was spent. Give us the detailed breakup of the entire expenditure incurred,” Lyngdoh told Highland Post recently.
He said the claimed expenditure is public money meant for the people of the state and it is nobody’s property and the government is answerable to give a detailed account for the costs used to fight the pandemic so that everything is transparent.
The Congress MDC also said that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is too defensive when allegations are made against his government.
“As the head of the state, whenever there are allegations on a certain issue, whether it’s diversion of rice, misuse of funds or illegal mining and transportation of coal, the CM should be the first one to ask and constitute an inquiry so that everything is found out and the culprits punished but, instead, he becomes overly defensive,” he said.
On the accusation regarding illegal coal mining, he said that if there is nothing to it, then the government has no reason to oppose a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.
Meghalayans are suffering economic hardship brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and it is criminal if a few well-placed people are garnering riches due to illegal means, he added.
