Members of the state Trinamool Congress (TMC) lashed out at the state government at a block level meeting in Gambegre, West Garo Hills, today, accusing the National People’s Party-led government of repackaging schemes that had been introduced by former Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma.
The meeting was attended by TMC MLAs Dikkanchi D Shira (Dr Mukul’s wife), Zenith M Sangma (his brother), Lazarus M Sangma, Winnerson D Sangma and MDCs Sadhiarani M Sangma (Dr Mukul’s sister-in-law), Cherak W Momin and Nehru D Sangma.
All were once members of the Congress Party until Dr Sangma led a mass defection to the TMC.
Claiming that the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government lacked concern for women, Zenith said, “Dr Mukul Sangma used to provide Rs 5,000 as an allowance to every woman to support their family. CM Conrad Sangma insensibly ended this scheme.”
Now, a few months before the next state elections are expected, the NPP-controlled government is “putting up a sham” by giving the same money as the old women’s allowance scheme through the MDA’s FOCUS programme for farmers, Zenith said. “Remember, the money is not from the NPP but from the central government. It is the taxpayers’ money and not the NPP’s,” he added.
The Rangsakona MLA also said that numerous inquiries into alleged misuse of World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) money were never answered. He also said that the MDA is in the habit of abandoning schemes midway, such as Dr Mukul’s Chief Minister’s Social Association programme, “which was not funded by the central government but the erstwhile state government itself.”
Sadhiarani, in her tirade, also condemned what she described as the insensitivity of the state government in addressing the grievances of Meghalaya’s teachers and caregivers.
“The NPP-led MDA government has been scamming us for the past four years. They have not brought a single speck of development in the state, especially in Gambegre,” the local MDC said.
A TMC release said that a large number of people at the meeting extended their support to the party.
“With every passing day, the Meghalaya Trinamool Congress is becoming the only credible alternative for the people of Meghalaya; it is the only party that is striving tirelessly and raising pertinent issues of Meghalaya at the national level, like the inclusion of languages and border disputes. Meghalaya TMC will always stand by the people and raise their voices in solidarity until the MDA-inflicted misgovernance ends in Meghalaya,” the press note said.
