Shillong, Dec 5: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has alleged financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 632 crore in the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project headed by IAS officer D Vijay Kumar.
A statement by TMC’s national spokesperson Saket Gokhale said the irregularities happened under the company Meghalayan Age that is spearheaded by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s top aide Kumar.
Gokhale pointed out that Meghalayan Age Ltd. is a government-run company founded in 2020 and it is responsible for implementing the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project for which the Meghalaya govt has taken a loan of Rs 632 crore from the New Development Bank (NDB).
“Several projects worth crores have been announced as part of the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project. Tenders and RFPs have been floated for these projects. However, the tenders have been floated by Meghalayan Age Ltd. and not the government, which means that none of the details of the tenders are public and the process of awarding these tenders and the names of contractors who have been awarded these tenders is secret and not revealed publicly,” Gokhale said.
A majority of projects under the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project are construction of roads which technically falls under the ambit of PWD Roads but is instead being undertaken by Meghalayan Age Ltd, the statement said.
“Road construction and public works are a sector where massive corruption and irregularities have been seen in the past with most contracts going to favoured ‘special’ contractors like Badri Rai & Company instead of local contractors. It is absolutely bizarre and unclear why road construction projects worth crores are being undertaken with borrowed funds in the guise of ‘ecotourism development’ when these are basic responsibilities of the PWD,” it added.
No financial report has been filed by the company to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs since 2020, said Gokhale and alleged that there was no transparency in appointing consultants or the process of awarding the projects worth crores.
