SHILLONG, MAR 23: Opposition parties on Monday said the budget presented by the Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA-II) led government, is ‘silent’ and ‘lack commitment’ on many issues concerning the state. The issues as pointed out by opposition relates to housing, power, roads, leakages in revenue collection and others.
“There is no commitment whether the state will be able to provide a roof for everybody especially the poor by 2022, as a target reflected in the union budget of the centre,” Opposition leader Donkupar Roy told the assembly while taking part in the budget discussion on Monday.
According to Roy, the state government should ensure that all citizens have a house to live in. He was of the opinion that the CGI sheets should be revive again in order to help rural poor of the state. “At the same time, the state government should also expedite the implementation the scheme under the Affordable Housing Scheme,” he added.
Referring to the power sector, Roy questioned whether the state is ready or not to connect all villages with electricity by 2020. He said,“There is no target fixed here in the state budget as to how many villages could be electrified. Over 1000 villages which are yet to be electrified.”
Roy stated that state budget is also completely silent on how many villages which are yet to get clean drinking water supply in the state and will these villages be provided with clean drinking water as mentioned in national budget.
With regards to the road connectivity, Roy also questioned whether the state government has any target on how many villages would be connected with roads. According to him, there are around 1500 odd villages which are yet to be connected with roads.
Stating that union budget has underlined a specific on the issue, Roy said, “Since the union has committed to connect all villages with roads, we expect the state government to take up measures for the same.”
Another issue raised by Roy was the delay in the completion of many important projects which according to him is reflective of the ‘slow decision’ of the PWD department in the state. He said, “There is lots of delay in completing of projects right from day of sanctioning till the work is allotted to contractors, it takes a very long time. This reflect the slow decision on part of the PWD.”
Roy also said because of this delay people from outside often ask why are the roads in your state so bad.
Stating that while following the norms laid by the union government, the state should not forget what is applicable for country may not be applicable here, Roy said adding, “We have to strengthen the pavement of our roads, which often get deteriorated due to the amount of rainfall in the state.” He proposed the government explore the possibilities of construction of RCC roads by using the readily available cements manufactured by the cement factories in the state. “Why not experiment and why not use the cement produced from our state for construction of RCC roads. This will also make Meghalaya, the first state in NE region,” Roy suggested.
Pointing out that land is an issue for poor people to construct houses, Roy said, “I have come across people who don’t have a land to construct house,” adding “The state government should think about these people in line with the poverty alleviation.”
Roy informed the house that the national budget has also recognize the NE as a region lagging behind in many front. “This is good in the sense when the Centre allots for any project we have to ensure that it intervene and help us ,” he said pointing out that 1947 partition as the main contributor for the region’s under development.
“Had there been no partition, our state would have been doing much better but we are suffering due to this. We have sacrificed because it is for national interest,” Roy stated.
On the fiscal health of the state, Roy said, the state government needs to ensure that there should be no leakages in revenue collection in order that it gets its rights from mineral resources. Stating there is lot of tax evasion as revealed by CAG reports, he however said, the state government should be serious on this by examining whether the steps taken are effective to tackle the issue. If not, new measures should be adopted, he felt.
Roy also emphasized on the need to legalize the local made liquor, a step which can also contribute to state’s exchequer. “It is high time for the government to examine on how it can generate revenue from local made liquor,” he said.
According to Roy, the number of drinkers are more in rural areas and the quantum of intake is quite high on local made liquor than those imported from outside.- By Our Reporter
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