Shillong, Feb 26: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma defended an increase in budget for the CM’s Secretariat as necessary for discretionary grants to enable development work.
The Chief Minister in his reply to the cut motion said that the increase, of around Rs 20 crore, has nothing to do with the purchase of vehicles, as was alleged by the opposition.
Sangma said that this discretionary grant is mainly in the form of the Chief Minister Special Development Fund (CMSDF) and the Chief Minister Special Grants and other schemes that are implemented through the CM Secretariat.
“Seventy-five per cent to 80 per cent of the increase is meant for development purposes only,” Sangma said, adding that many schemes have been given to opposition MLAs and not only to persons affiliated to his party.
“I can’t be CM of NPP (the National People’s Party, which he heads). I am the CM of Meghalaya,” he said.
Earlier this week the opposition accused Sangma of “weaponising” the CMSDF for political mileage, claiming that the CM ignores funding requests from opposition MLAs but awards grants to those close to him or his party.
The CM also told the house today that efficiency of governance and processing of files has improved. According to him, file processing now takes only around 2.5 days compared with 26 days on average in the past. He added that most file movements are on e-proposal.
“This has created some sort of accountability in the system,” the Chief Minister added.
