SILCHAR, Jan 16 - At a time when there is a buzz around Swachh Bharat, the flagship programme of the Central government across the country and also in the state, members of National Students� Union of India (NSUI) has alleged that Dilip Kumar Paul, the elected MLA from Silchar constituency is involved in large-scale misappropriation of the tax under the scheme.
The NSUI members led by Zubair Anam, state vice-president of the student body, were seen at the Silchar Police Station on Monday demanding an enquiry into the whereabouts of the Swaccha Bharat tax.
�Despite the tax collected from the people in the name of Swaccha Bharat, cleanliness in the constituency is in abysmal status. This is a clear case of cheating and misuse of public money and hence we demand a probe into the details of tax collected for the cause,� Anam said.
Interestingly, when the members approached the police to file an FIR under section 409 of the IPC, they were told that the �case cannot be registered�. This triggered angst among the NSUI cadres and they said that as per the guidelines from the Supreme Court, the police must register case against anyone against whom allegation of any kind is brought forth. The student members of the union said that if denied the rights, they would resort to state-wide protest as well. However, according to police sources, even as case was not registered, an enquiry into the matter will be innitiated.
On the other hand, unfazed about the incident, Silchar MLA Dilip Paul, who is also the Deputy Speaker of Assam Assembly, brushed aside the allegations saying that �this is not a matter at all and the NSUI members must brood deep into their activities and hope better sense prevails�.
Road in dilapidated state: The people living along the Tilain-Rajnagar-Katigorah road stretch are passing their days in great difficulty as the condition of the road, popularly known as the TRK road, has gone from bad to worse over the years.
Several locals have raised questions on the intention of the concerned department which lacked efforts to repair the road at Manikpur. It may be mentioned that the 21-km-road sprawls across Borkhola (7 kms) and Katigorah constituencies (14 kms).
Jenifer Islam Laskar, president of Rajnagar gaon panchayat, recently submitted a memorandum to the Cachar Deputy Commissioner urging him to look into the matter. The gaon panchayat president said that because of the erosion at Manikpur, condition of TRK road deteriorated. �People are faced with a lot of hardship in using the road which has become a growing cause of concern,� Laskar said.
