SHILLONG, MAY 27: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said the government will not bypass any statutory procedure for industrial projects, responding to criticism over the recent cancellation of the Shree Cement public hearing amid stiff local opposition.
“For every project, procedures are defined and any kind of industrial project, procedures are defined,” Sangma told reporters.
“For government, it is not possible for us to not follow any of the procedures and specially for larger projects.”
Dismissing allegations of rule-bending, he said, “Therefore, these kinds of allegations are not correct as we have been following procedures and if there are certain areas and concerns which people have, let them come out and obviously the procedures have to be followed. We are very clear on that.”
“Please remember that there is no question of bulldozing out here, there is no question of flaunting any rules out here,” he added.
Sangma said the government’s track record over the past eight years reflects adherence to norms. “We have been doing different projects for the last eight years. The government does not intend to break rules for any particular company or organization…all rules and procedures will be followed for all projects,” he said.
He stressed that investment size does not exempt firms from compliance. “The point is that for us procedures and rules and whatever statutory requirements that are there irrespective of whatever company comes in, we are very clear that we have to follow all the rules. I am very clear on that and therefore the administration is also very clear on that,” he said.
“These are not a small shop that you are trying to open…these are large investments of thousands of crores,” Sangma added.
“These cannot just be done because somebody wants it to be done. It has to be done only in the basis of procedures and so procedures have to be followed, we are very clear and procedures will be followed.”
