AIZAWL:
Vigilance cell of opposition Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on August 2 submitted a written complaint to the state Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Lalnunmawia Chuaungo after the chief minister had allegedly denied a Right To Information (RTI) request seeking information on payment of bills to contractors.
MPCC vigilance cell secretary Lalhruaitluanga Bawitlung said they had sought information under RTI Act on July 15 from the Directorate of Account and Treasury seeking information on payment of bills to contractors who had more than Rs 100 lakh worth contracts.
“At a time when the state’s treasuries stop disbursing funds, we wanted to know what was behind the financial crisis that hit the state and also if some contractors like Kamrul Chhangte, to whom the CM had shown undue favouritism, had pending bills too,” Lalhruaitluanga said.
The RTI application sought information like names and addresses of contractors/suppliers, name of works, estimate cost of works and payment made to the contractors/suppliers so far, within how many days were their bills passed by treasury, etc.
After “vague information” divulged by the concerned State Public Information Officer (SPIO), the Congress vigilance cell made an appeal to higher authority on July 18.
“We were informed on July 27 that the directorate of account and treasury did not have records and could not give information,” he said.
Kamrul Chhangte, a non-tribal businessman who owns KR Construction, is said to be extremely close to the chief minister and has bagged several lucrative works under the MNF government, including renovation of Lengpui Airport.
The RTI replies that we have received are apparently wrong as the account & treasury department is known to have maintained records of contractors, names of works and amounts, the vigilance cell said in a statement.
“It was clearly an attempt to cover up the undue favouritism shown to the contractors who are close to the chief minister,” it said.