SHILLONG, MAY 26: The Congress on Thursday alleged that the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) has failed to obtain building permission for construction of its new party office.
Addressing a news conference, Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) vice president Banphiralang Basaiawmoit said, “Shockingly, while the building is almost 70% complete, NPP has not taken the approval from Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) for the same, which is one of the mandatory conditions for starting construction at any site within urban area.”
The foundation stone for construction of the new NPP office near Polo grounds was laid on September 1, 2020.
Stating that this is construed to be a blatant use of power by the current dispensation, Banphiralang said, “It seems the authority has also turned a blind eye towards the massive construction going on in order to please the masters, while in case of ordinary citizen, even if you do extend the existing building without approval, the authority is alert enough to issue you a notice and penalty.”
“We, as concern Youths of the Congress, really want to know how can such a structure be constructed without approval, and why has MUDA not issued notices, and why has MUDA turned blind eye to the same, and under whose instructions this is being done,” he said.
The youth leader said while the structure of building will be ultra-strong, considering this is the office of the masters, and not for commoners like in case of ISBT or State Legislative Assembly building, “but we believe, that the due process of approvals and regulations should have been followed as per the rule of the land.”
He further stated that it seems the current regime wants to flout all rules to work in their favour, and the lack of accountability is clearly visible across, even simple reports on various websites including State Planning commission websites have not been updated after 2017.
“The question beckons, where is the transparency in Governance?” he said.
Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) Manuel Badwar said that flouting of the rules cannot be tolerated anymore. “Questions have to be raised by us, by the youth and by the public at large,” he said.
When asked, Manuel said that the party will be writing to the department concerned on the matter. “Yes, the authorities concerned should take action on this as it is one rule that stands for everyone. If it stands for the general public, it should also stand for big parties and big masters,” he said while adding that the party will further collect more information and take action on the matter.
Meanwhile, Banphiralang also slammed the government’s move to convert the identity of Meghalaya from an “educational hub” to a “gambling hub”. He said the Chief Minister is harping upon and pushing about the road to disaster for the future generations of the people adding “The signs are written on the wall for the youth of the state to come forward before it is too late.”
Stating that the state has a huge population of students coming from different parts of the country, he warned that with such a move by the government, parents will have serious doubts about sending their children to study in Meghalaya due to fear that they may become gamblers.
By Our Reporter
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