Hold meeting on peace pact before discussing Tura medical college, Bernard tells CM

Shillong, May 25: Tura MDC Bernard Marak said on Sunday that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma should first call a meeting to follow up ANVC peace pact before deciding on privatisation of Tura medical college.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Marak said Tura Medical College is an outcome of the Tripartite Agreement signed by ANVC groups in 2014 with the BJP government in Delhi where the state government was a party.

“Garo chief ministers betrayed the tribal people’s benefits by delaying the implementation of the Agreement. They also violated the points agreed in an agreement. We are left with no option but to serve them a legal notice for violating the Tripartite Agreement. We were assured of a better life through the Tripartite Agreement but we were targeted, apprehended, slapped with multiple cases. Now, fighting the government legally is the only option left for us”, he added.

After the signing of an agreement, the state was supposed to form a State Level Monitoring Committee and regular meetings were supposed to be held to monitor the implementation of the Tripartite Agreement, he said.

“However for more than a decade they cheated us giving us false hope. It has been more than 10 years and no committees were formed and no meetings were held to monitor the Agreement. The Agreement focused in strengthening the traditional system, to promote local self governance, to transfer 13 departments, direct funding etc. The state government hijacked the benefits towards the state departments and NPP government in GHADC misappropriated the central funds. The Health, Education, Transport, Forest, Registration of Birth and Death, ST certificates, documents related to land like Non encumbrance, PRC etc were unlawfully taken over by the state instead of giving it to the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs)”, Matak.said.

“Chief Minister Conrad Sangma should prove his leadership by honouring the Tripartite Agreement instead of making irresponsible statements on projects sanctioned through the Tripartite Agreement, he said, adding that  the state and the Centre Government violated the Agreement signed in 2014 as they failed to conduct the Monitoring Committe meetings   every 6 month. ANVC groups were betrayed and the whole tribal communities were betrayed and the projects were hijacked by the state government leaving ADCs in debts. Chief Minister should first hold a meeting before taking any decision on Tura Medical College”, he added.