Meghalaya government refutes TMC's claims of financial anomalies worth Rs 632 crore

The Meghalaya government on December 5 refuted the claims by Trinamool Congress (TMC) who accused the latter of funds mismanagement worth Rs 632 crore in the name of the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project. 

The state government termed this allegations as fabricated and devoid of facts.

''It has been brought to the notice of the Government of Meghalaya that false, malicious and disrespectful claims have been made against the Government of Meghalaya, the Meghalayan Age Limited, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Meghalaya and officers of the State Government by Saket Gokhale in a press statement dated 4th December 2022,'' an official statement dated December 5 read.

The Meghalaya government further claimed that it never approached the state government or any of its agencies to seek any information nor used any of the publicly
available information including those available at https://meghalayatenders.gov.in. 

''The issuer of this statement has made such motivated and inaccurate claims in the past and it appears that the sole intention behind the recent press statement is to mislead the public. The state government views this very seriously and is considering suing the issuer of this press statement for defamation,'' the statement added.

As per the statement, the project cost for the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project ( MEIDP) is about Rs 731 core and is one of the many externally aided projects (EAPs) being implemented in the state. 

''It must be noted that under any EAP being implemented in the northeastern states, the Government of India passes 90 per cent of the funding as grants to the
State government. Thus, only 10 per cent of the total amount has to be paid by the state government,'' it said.

The Meghalaya government further said the entire tendering process for MEIDP is being done as per the norms of the state government and is being overseen and approved by the funding agency, the New Development Bank (NDB).

Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) had accused the Meghalaya government of funds mismanagement worth Rs 632 crore in the name of the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project.

Notably, just months ahead of the assembly election, the All India Trinamool Congress claimed that the Meghalaya government under Conrad Sangma and IAS officer D Vijay Kumar has conceived over Rs 632 crores of fund mismanagement.

Also read : TMC accuses Meghalaya government of Rs 632 crore irregularities in the name of Meghalaya Ecotourism

In an official statement, the TMC claimed that immense financial irregularities of USD 79.05 million (i.e. Rs 632 crores) in the Meghalaya Ecotourism infrastructure Development Project have been done under the company Meghalayan Age which is spearheaded by CM Conrad Sangma’s top aide IAS officer D Vijay Kumar.

Highlighting the facts, the TMC claimed that the company is responsible for implementing the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project for which the Meghalaya govt has taken a loan of USD 79.05 million (i.e. Rs 632 crores) from the New Development Bank (NDB).

''Further, tenders and RFPs have been floated for these projects - however, the tenders have been floated by Meghalayan Age Ltd and not by the government of Meghalaya which means that none of the details of the tenders is public and the process of awarding these tenders and the names of contractors who have been awarded these tenders to be secret and not revealed publicly,'' TMC had claimed.

"Shockingly, the company Meghalayan Age Ltd. under IAS D Vijay Kumar has NOT FILED A SINGLE FINANCIAL REPORT with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs since its inception in 2020. In that period, an amount of USD 79.05 million (i.e. Rs 632 crores) from the New Development Bank (NDB) has been sanctioned for ecotourism projects by Meghalayan Age. However, not a single penny has been accounted for. Moreover, the company Meghalayan Age Ltd. has floated tenders worth crores for numerous projects as well as for consultants. The MDA government has a track record of appointing “consultants” with a process that has zero transparency. Keeping with that tradition, IAS D Vijay Kumar has sanctioned crores worth of projects without any transparency in how the projects were awarded, to whom they were awarded, and what was the criteria for awarding the projects," TMC added.

The National Spokesperson of All India Trinamool Congress, Saket S Gokhale demands that IAS officer D Vijay Kumar and CM Conrad Sangma must answer where 600+ crores of funds have gone and why Meghalayan Age Ltd. has not filed a single financial statement as required under the law.

"We also demand that the people of Meghalaya MUST be informed about where funds have been spent by Meghalayan Age Ltd., who are the contractors that have been awarded these projects, and on what basis have the projects been awarded," the statement added.