The Congress party has blamed the NPP which is leading the State government and Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) for the council’s current financial crisis.
State Congress vice president Timjim K. Momin in a statement issued today said that the prolonged protest by non-gazetted employees of GHADC over unpaid salaries that have been outstanding for 35 months and the delayed implementation of The Fifth Pay Commission’s guidelines is now a major worry for all Garo Hills residents.
“It is obvious that GHADC’s financial circumstances have gotten worse and that there are still several obstacles to overcome,” Momin said, adding, “An overview of the current GHADC conditions revealed the shortcomings of the NPP-led MDA government in the State and the NPP-led executive committee in the council.”
Momin said that among the seventeen departments that currently make up GHADC, the departments of Forestry, Land and Revenue, Justice, and Civil Works are among those that bring in revenue for the council.
“However, it has also long been the scene of widespread corruption and extravagant spending, which have severely harmed the system. The council’s overstaffing was a direct outcome of corruption,” he said.
He also said that additionally, the GHADC has had crumbling infrastructure and lacks financial rule, service rules, among other numerous rules that need to be updated.
“Our GHADC had been governed by the NPP-led executive committee for many years. The people of Garo Hills mandated the NPP to run GHADC better but on the contrary it remains a far away dream and today is in the worst of condition. Our chief minister and the current NPP top officials made a major statement prior to the council’s election stating that for the council to function effectively only the NPP, as the party in control of the State government, has the ability to significantly alter the GHADC status quo. But the chief minister’s recent statement that the GHADC is an autonomous body and that the State government is not accountable for the current crisis demonstrated their inability to manage the GHADC and their deceit of the Garo Hills community for electoral purposes,” Momin said.
Stating that the deteriorating conditions in GHADC may have been avoided if NPP had been effective and genuine enough, Momin said, “On the other hand, they had not made an attempt to reconstruct the council and had instead declined. Therefore in order to prevent further painful situations, I am pleading with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to accept responsibility and to step in right away to intervene in the ongoing GHADC issues.”
