Irked by the wasteful spending of public money on political appointees by the current MDA government, the Voice of the People Party (VPP) has written to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma urging him to remove all chairmen, co-chairmen, vice chairmen etc of various boards, commissions and government corporations of the government.
In the letter to the chief minister, VPP general secretary Ricky A J Syngkon said that these political appointees of the MDA government serve no public purpose except indulgence in unnecessary drainage and wastage of public resources.
“Further, such appointments are an eyesore to the public when your government has failed to provide the necessary services for the welfare of the people,” Syngkon said in the letter to Sangma.
It may be mentioned that hundreds of members of the NPP, UDP, HSPDP and BJP have been appointed as chairmen, co-chairmen, vice chairmen and advisers in various boards, commissions and corporations.
While a number of the appointees were defeated politicians, others are closely linked to the parties in the MDA government.
Each of the appointees is entitled to perks and facilities amounting to nearly Rs 1 lakh per month.
Meanwhile, the VPP also today asked the MDA government to reinstate three dismissed Lokayukta officials within 24 hours and threatened to launch a public movement if there was no positive response on the matter.
“In the event of your failure to act within 24 hours from the receipt of this letter, the Voice of the People Party would be compelled to launch a public movement against such unethical and illegal conduct,” VPP general secretary Ricky A J Syngkon said in a letter addressed to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today.
The VPP general secretary also said, “The steps recently taken by your government to interfere with the working of the office of the Lokayukta wherein the officers in the concerned office were terminated against the terms of the contract of appointment and the principle of natural justice.”
Syngkon also stated that it is highly unfortunate that the government’s action was taken with ulterior motives thereby undermining the faith that the people have in the office of the Lokayukta.
The VPP urged the chief minister to immediately reinstate the terminated officials to their appointed posts till the end of their tenure.
Recently, the State government removed Lokayukta’s Director of Inquiry and Prosecution, Jainal Rymmai and two enquiry officers – Anil K. Sangma and Rymphang Pde. The officials were unceremoniously sacked via WhatsApp messages.
It was this trio who had unearthed an alleged scam worth crores of rupees that purportedly involved NPP MLA, Sanjay Sangma, who is also the brother-in-law of the chief minister.
Following their investigation, the court of the Lokayukta had charge-sheeted Sanjay Sangma, nine former GHADC executive committee members, two contractors, and a former Principal Secretary of the GHADC.
The investigation followed a complaint by activist Kingstone B Sangma.
The alleged scam in question relates to the construction of a hostel for MDCs of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) in Tura. The project is worth more than Rs 6 crore. The MDC hostel was funded by the central government.
Later, on the recommendation of the State government, the Lokayukta chairperson, Bhalang Dhar, has appointed Israel W. Ingty as the new Director of the Inquiry Wing and three other members – Challang G. Momin, John Clitzer Sangma and Baniateilang Diengngan.
Ingty is the Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. The other three are serving police officials. Ingty was selected from three Secretary-ranked officials considered for the role, the other two being F M Dopth, and Renette C. Sohkhlet.
