Spokesperson of the MDA government and cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh has slammed the opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) for trying to politicize the issue related to the Meghalaya Lokayukta.
Speaking to media persons on Monday, Lyngdoh said, “To politicize this issue by misleading public opinion is something I feel is not ethical and it is also an attempt to deflect the public attention from genuine issues concerning the state.”
The VPP has recently suspended its agitation demanding reinstatement of retired officials appointed by the Lokayukta. The opposition political party had alleged that the termination of the retired officials had come at a time when the Lokayukta is looking into a corruption case involving a sitting MLA, who is related to the chief minister of the state.
However, the fact of the matter is that the Lokayukta on July 28, last year had already charge sheeted 12 persons including a sitting MLA, nine former members of the executive committee and a secretary of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) besides two contractors for non-completion of the member’s hostel at Tura, which amounting to Rs 6,01,31,100.00.
Lyngdoh, who is also UDP working president, said that the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act is crystal clear that “we cannot engage the service of retired officials…because the influence of retired officials is very less compared to serving officials.”
Moreover, he said that we cannot deviate from the Act, which has come after several protests across the country.
He informed that the Minister in-charge Law Ampareen Lyngdoh had met leaders of the VPP, who had sought an appointment with the Chief Minister to discuss the issue and the CM had also agreed to meet them..
“Furthermore, the upcoming budget session also paves way for them (VPP) to discuss the issue but we cannot discuss what the Act stipulates,” he said.
When asked, the MDA spokesperson said, “The Lokayukta is not directly under the control of the state government. You are also aware of this. The purpose is that the Lokayukta will give justice in a fair manner and it is not a government department. The officials serving under the Lokayukta are given specific tenure and that under a certain code of conduct and performance within the Lokayukta. The sittings of the Lokayukta are also subjected to public scrutiny and even minutes of their meetings are open to public scrutiny. So on what grounds they can do things under the influence of the government.”
“Therefore, in what way it will affect I also cannot comprehend. In fact, people who should not be appointed or are not qualified to be appointed, the Act is very clear that they should be serving officers. So if we go against the Act, the state government will be blamed for violating its own Act. At the same time you say you want transparency in governance and at the same time you want the state government to violate the Act, so how can we do these things at the same time,” he said while adding that the chief minister however had maintained that the government is open for discussion as it has got nothing to hide.
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