Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jun 15: Accusing the state government of indulging in inequitable distribution of funds, the All Nyishi Youth Association (ANYA) on Monday demanded a white paper on the financial status of the government.
In a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club here, ANYA president Byabang Joram alleged that the Chief Minister Pema Khandu-led government was indulging in inequitable distribution of funds in the state.
Joram said the association had in a representation on 29 May demanded a white paper on the financial status of the government. However, he said, the government is yet to respond.
“Despite saying that there is no fund, the highest revised estimate (RE) funds have gone to Namsai and Tawang. Development should be carried out with equal distribution of the funds to every district,” said Joram.
He alleged that the Khandu-led government’s much-touted cabinet committee on infrastructure (CCI) was an eye-wash, saying the projects approved by the government under the CCI could not be sanctioned.
“There is no sanction, no infrastructural development under the CCI. Some may get the funds under it, but it is only on paper and social media. The reality is that it’s an eye-wash; so we are demanding a white paper from the government,” Joram said.
The ANYA also said that the health, education and social sectors are suffering despite getting much better funding from the central government under the 14th Finance Commission.
“But the government is busy in distributing funds based on political agenda. It is found that the rich become richer and the poor become poorer under your government,” the ANYA president alleged.
The association also claimed that the state government was hushing up on the expenditure of funds during the Covid-19 crisis.
Joram further claimed that “suppliers from outside the state are getting instant payment but the contractors from the state are suffering.”
Raising the Trans-Arunachal Highway (TAH) land compensation issue, the association alleged the government’s involvement in the multi-crore scam.
“The government is also involved in the false compensation bill payment of Trans-Arunachal Highway, since no one is arrested yet who received false compensation amounts,” Joram said.
The ANYA also demanded action against the executing agency for the deplorable condition of the Palin-Koloriang stretch of the TAH, besides arrest of the government officials and beneficiaries who were involved in drawing inflated compensation bills.
Stating that a “commission culture” is deeply rooted in the state’s works departments, the association said the practice is carried out openly, with the government’s knowledge, to the discouragement and frustration of genuine contractors.
Squarely blaming Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein for “misutilization of public money,” the ANYA demanded the DCM’s resignation on moral grounds.
The association held Mein responsible for what it claimed was mismanagement of the state exchequer, and demanded an inquiry against him for mismanagement of government funds.
The ANYA also demanded that the government make public the status of the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board cash-for-job scam, and reiterated its demand for cancellation of GeM procurement.
