TURA, May 4 - Meghalaya got its first case submitted to the Lokayukta of the State after activist, Nilbath Ch Marak (Dingnen), filed a complaint against the Member of District Council (MDC) of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) yesterday over charges of corruption in work done under development funds from the GHADC for 2017-2018.
The case was filed by Nilbath to the secretary of the Lokayukta, making it the first in the State.
According to the petition filed against MDC of Asananggre, Ismail Marak, the MDC did not follow norms while allocating work to be done with the fund of Rs 1 crore that he received for development of his constituency. It was also alleged that the work was not completed.
�He (Ismail) gave all the projects of his constituency to two of his friends (Kubon Sangma and Nikseng Sangma) despite there being many other people who applied for the projects,� said Nilbath.
The information on the projects was collected by Nilbath through an RTI filed by him at the GHADC.
Further, the two contractors submitted their applications on December 15, 2017 and work was allotted to them on December 21. A total of 49 projects which included construction of ringwells, waiting sheds, roads, etc., were given to the two contractors.
The activist stated that he found that almost none of the projects has been completed or even taken up for the year 2017-2018. Among the 49 projects, 35 related to road construction and graveyards were given to Kubon Sangma, while 14 projects relating to ring wells and community halls were given to Nikseng.
The complainant, in his petition, stated that the MDC as a public representative had used his power arbitrarily and as such abused his status as an MDC.
�It is a fit case for the Lokayukta to intervene and inquire into the matter of misappropriation of public funds by the MDC, Ismail Marak,� stated the petition.
