SHILLONG:
The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) has hit out at deputy chief minister and national vice-president of the National People’s Party Prestone Tynsong for stating that “MLA schemes are meant to benefit only those voters/supporters who support the party/candidate during the election and that all 60 MLAs are doing so.
KHNAM vice-president Thomas Passah said that Tynsong’s statement has made it clear that the Rs. 12.5 crore of each MLA is a freebie used by politicians for political benefits which is against the guidelines of the Election Commission of India.
“The objective of the MLA scheme is to create local need based infrastructure, to create assets of public utility and to remove regional imbalances in development and not to promote political interest as done in the state of Meghalaya,” Passah said in a press statement on May 1.
He also said that most of the MLAs implement the MLA scheme funded at the cause of the state’s exchequer through a committee which is formed and headed by the legislator which allows them to manage corruption through this scheme.
The KHNAM vice-president said that when one talks about MLA schemes in urban areas, the success of its implementation is very low.
“The same work is being done again and again because the quality of work is very low thereby wasting the public money,” Passah said.
He also alleged that the MLAs mostly accumulate the five years amount and use it a year before election, which clearly implies that they are using the scheme for political mileage.
The KHNAM vice-president also said that looking at the statement of the deputy chief minister it will be right to say that MLA schemes should be done away with and any development work which is required to be done should be channelised through the Block Development Officer.
“In this way we can ensure better execution of work, timely completion and accountability,” he said.
On April 29, Tynsong while speaking at an election rally in Rangshken under Sohiong constituency to drum up support for NPP candidate Samlin Malngiang, had said that MLA schemes are meant for supporters of legislators.
He even admitted that in the Pynursla constituency which he represents, MLA schemes are distributed only to his supporters.