SHILLONG, FEB 26: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has defended his government’s allocation of funds, saying he’s the chief minister of Meghalaya, not just the National People’s Party (NPP).
He was responding to allegations by Opposition Leader Mukul Sangma that funds are being used for political agendas.
“I have been sanctioning schemes for everybody. If anybody of any other political party comes, I have no problem,” Sangma said in his reply to a cut motion. “I have given in the past. In fact, in some areas I ended up giving many schemes to many people from the opposition and my MLAs got very upset.”
Sangma said he told his MLAs, “I have to take care of everybody, I cannot just be chief minister of NPP, I am the chief minister of Meghalaya. For me, ruling – opposition doesn’t matter.”
“Today on the other side and today if they get this scheme they come to our side, it happens as that is how things work,” Sangma said, adding, “So we should never go with a closed mindset that an individual is opposition we will not give.”
Sangma emphasized that schemes are sanctioned based on need, not party affiliation. “I have been sanctioning schemes for everybody. If anybody of any other political party comes, I have no problem,” he said.
The chief minister has credited his late father, Purno A Sangma, for shaping his approach to welfare and development.
“I must tell you I learned this from my late father because that is how he used to give his MP scheme,” Sangma said. “Whoever used to come – I used to see the twinkles in his eyes, the happiness in his eyes when he was able to give some schemes to some schools or some village that they required and those moments left a very strong impression on me.”
Sangma said he continues to follow the same principle, prioritizing the needs of the people over party affiliations. “Therefore, till today we are following the same principle,” he said.
Acknowledging that more people from the ruling party approach him, Sangma added, “Yes there could be instances where there will be more from the ruling party who comes and meet but that is natural, let us not deny that.”
“I never asked if you are from NPP, show me your ID card or if you are from which party, no sir. We purely go on based on the requirements and the needs of the people,” Sangma said.
Sangma acknowledged that MLAs often give schemes to their own people, saying, “That is how politics works in any state. There is nothing wrong… But is it our intention to do it? No, it is not our intention to do it. But does it happen? Yes, as that is how the system works.”
Earlier, the chief minister has assured that the increased allocation of Rs 20 crore is meant for development purposes, primarily for the Chief Minister Special Development Fund (CMSDF) and Chief Minister Special Grant (CMSG).
“Most of the funds that we are asking for is for the public, is for development,” Sangma said, responding to a cut motion. He clarified that the increase is not for buying cars, highlighting that the CM Secretariat hasn’t spent on new vehicles.
“The CM Secretariat we have not spent any money to buy cars. We are not buying new cars, we are using all this money for development,” Sangma said.
“Everything we ask, we ask only for the development scheme,” Sangma assured.
He highlighted improvements in efficiency, citing file movement.
“File movement on average took 26 days, now it takes only 2.6 days. Within three days, files are cleared on average.”
Sangma attributed this to e-proposals, saying, “Most files are on e-proposals, we know which person, minister has it, and for how long… this has created some sense of accountability.”
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