The state government is sitting on almost Rs 23 lakh meant to pay for the use of commercial vehicles during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Shillong in January last year instead of clearing the dues, Right to Information (RTI) activist Disparsing Rani claimed today.
Rani said that he had received a complaint from around 400 commercial vehicle owners to the effect that they have still not been paid for renting their vehicles during the VVIP’s visit, which was well over a year ago.
Whenever they approached the Transport Department for their dues, the owners would be told that the North Eastern Council (NEC), which organised the event that Shah attended, had not released the funds to the state government.
“But when I filed an RTI with the NEC, it showed that more than Rs 22.89 lakh has been released to the Meghalaya government via the Commissioner of Transport,” Rani said.
He has also filed another RTI with the Transport Department seeking clarification as to when it received the funds from the NEC.
