The fuel adulteration site exposed by the RPP on April 23, which the party said was a sign of the “unabated corruption” in Nagaland. (Morung File Photo)
Says severe financial crunch in the state warrants financial emergency declaration
DIMAPUR, MAY 12 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party (RPP) met with the Nagaland Governor on May 12 and submitted a memorandum where it plead for the imposition of President’s Rule in Nagaland. The RPP delegation was led by its party president and included 6 other members including the General Secretary and Rising Youth President.
The RPP memo stated that due to “unabated corruption” over the years, there is now a severe financial crunch in the state warranting “financial emergency declaration.” Stating that Nagaland has a “salaried economy,” the RPP maintained that when 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.
“This phenomenon is not going to end soon. 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,” it said.
The RPP mentioned that it had unearthed a multi-Crore fuel adulteration scam in the state on April 23. The monthly Nagaland quota of SK Oil – approximately 4.8 Lakh litres – issued under the PDS which is meant for the poor beneficiaries is instead diverted to racketeers, it alleged. The RPP said that 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,” the RPP stated.
It further pointed out that the post-matric scholarships meant for the almost 40,000 beneficiary students of Nagaland “is not spared by the government.” The RPP also said that the latest CAG report has highlighted all the cases of fund misappropriation in the state.
The RPP claimed that the 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, the party claimed.
To this point, the RPP said that important 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 RPP said that 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, it added.
The RPP meanwhile said that “time and again, all the legislators of the present UDA coalition have expressed their desire to step down in order to facilitate Naga solution.” It added that 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.
It reminded that Imkong L Imchen, a senior legislator with the ruling NDPP, had suggested on the floor of the house during the 11th session of the NLA on March 2022, that the “invoking Article 365 of the Indian Constitution may be the right answer to the cries of the Naga people.”
Given the “unanimity among the ruling MLAs to step down and pave way for Naga solution,” the RPP felt 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.”
