Systemic corruption in the state will ensure that the trend continues unless the President of India intervenes and makes course correction, said RPP.
TFM Desk
A memorandum submitted to the Governor of Nagaland on Thursday by Rising People’s Party (RPP) has sought his intervention on imposition of President’s Rule in the state.
The memorandum said that given the unanimity among the MLAs of the ruling UDA coalition and ‘opposition-less’ government to step down and pave way for a solution to the protracted Naga issue, the “Rising People’s Party is of the strong opinion that the wisdom of the 13th NLA members cannot be discarded easily and therefore the imposition of President’s Rule in the state is the only way forward”.
“Thanks to unabated corruption over the years, there is now a severe financial crunch in the state warranting financial emergency declaration. Ours is a salaried economy. When the salaries of government servants who account for almost 90% percent of the state’s entire workforce including teachers and the police force is withheld, the scale of the disaster can be imagined”, stated RPP.
This phenomenon is not going to end soon, said memorandum adding that for the last twenty years in a row, successive state government have been presenting ‘deficit budgets’ with the latest number being minus 2212.74 crore, the highest till date. The systemic corruption in the state will ensure that the trend continues unless the President of India intervenes and makes course correction, said RPP.
The memorandum reminded that it had unearthed a multi-crore fuel adulteration scam in the state on April 23, 2022. The monthly Nagaland quota of SK Oil – approx. 4.8 Lakh litres – issued under the PDS which is meant for the poor beneficiaries is instead diverted to racketeers. The racketeers supply the adulterated fuel to all the fuel stations in the state and even to Manipur and upper Assam. Most shockingly, all files related to SK Oil is handled by the Chief Minister’s Office, alleged RPP.
The party said that even the post-matric scholarships meant for the almost 40,000 beneficiary students of Nagaland is not spared by the government. The latest CAG report has highlighted all the cases of fund misappropriation in the state and we need not state further, said the memorandum.
“Most importantly, the so-called ‘Opposition-less’ government is against the very concept of parliamentary democracy, and by default against the constitution of India. The people voted for a robust democratic set-up with its checks and balances but instead what we now have is an autocratic government”, said RPP in the memorandum.
It also pointed out that money bills involving crores of public money are moved in the Assembly for consideration and passed unanimously, without any discussion or debate. “With no Opposition in the Assembly, the present government in Nagaland has ‘absolute power’. This situation has led to ‘absolute corruption’ with the result that there is now a severe financial crunch” alleged RPP.
“Time and again, all the legislators of the present UDA coalition have expressed their desire to step down in order to facilitate a Naga solution. The ‘Opposition-less’ government is also aggressively pursuing the issue through its Core Committee on Naga Political issue, comprising of NDPP, BJP, NPF and Independent MLA”, said RPP.