VGs in Shangsha asked to vacate barracks by miffed contractor

Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 15

Village Guards (VGs) in Shangsha village, Mon district, are currently caught in the midst of a monetary tiff between a civil works contractor and the Civil Administrative Works Department (CAWD), Nagaland. The Village is located on Nagaland’s borders with Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. 

As on April 15, the Shangsha VGs, with strength of 30 personnel, were living on borrowed time after they were ordered out of their barracks temporarily by a contractor pending clearing of bills by the CAWD. 

A source in Tizit told The Morung Express that the VGs had to vacate their barracks in the backdrop of a directive from the contractor, who built the barracks.

As per the source, the contractor (name withheld) completed the construction back in 2014 and had also reportedly been given the ‘Clearance Certificate’ for the completed work by the Assistant Engineer, CAWD, Mon. “But the Department failed to release the bill. Therefore, the contractor ordered to vacate the barrack until he receives the said bill,” the source said. 

Fortunately for the VGs, the contractor retracted his decision after their commander approached the former requesting for more time while explaining the difficulty of keeping their weapons and ammunitions safe outside the confines of the barracks. 

The commander, Panpu Konyak, when contacted, said that the Shangsha Village Council also mediated. He said that they requested the contractor for a month’s time to which he relented. 

“The contractor agreed to the request and gave one month deadline to clear the pending bill,” he said. 

He further urged the department in concern (CAWD) to respond to the quandary and release the amount due to the contractor to avoid having to vacate their official barracks again. 

Attempts to contact the Executive Engineer, CAWD for comment on the matter were unsuccessful, while the contractor did not respond to calls.