DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 4 (MExN): The Press Secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party—19th A/C Phek, Zhohuve Venuh as well as the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) have issued separate statements alleging of fund diversion regarding construction of road from Phek to Chozuba.
The NCP Press Secretary has in an open letter to the Chief Minister of Nagaland made reference to the reply by the Office of the Chief Engineer, PWD,(R & B) to the application for information under RTI Act 2005 vide letter NO.CE(R&B)/RTI/2008-09/ Dated Kohima, the 18thMay 2010.
The NCP Press Secretary “on behalf of aggrieved public” wanted more clarification from the CM’s Office and made a “request to give Public reply regarding the payment” made for the Construction of road from Phek to Chozuba (44.36 Km) 2007-2009. The work was to be completed during 2007-2009, but it was not completed, stated the open letter from the NCP 19th A/C Phek.
The Open Letter has alleged that diversion of fund took place and that the “bill was manipulated” and paid into an account number at SBI Phek. “Total cost of the project is Rs.1747.13 Lac and 90% of the Project cost was given by the Central financial assistance from Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) towards the Project Construction of road from Phek to Chozuba (44.36 Km) which is Rs.1572.42 Lac”, stated the Open Letter while questioning as to how the money was drawn without completing the said work.
The Open Letter to the CM has also mentioned “how Pucca side Drain was completed and where it is”. It also raised questions on the use of “Vibrator Roller” pointing out that the “roller was not used so how it was done”. “2 metre wide uniformly cutting from 0-44.36 km were recorded. It’s not possible in hilly area so how comes it’s done uniformly?” it further stated.
The NCP’s Open Letter also pointed out that several times Area Public Organisation, Congress (I) Party and other Village Council wrote about their grievances but that these have not been attended by the Govt. of Nagaland and questioned why this was so.
The Open Letter wanted the office of the Chief Minister to do the needful and give reply to the public within 15 days “before public take to the streets demanding necessary remedial measures”.
In a separate press note the NPCC has also made similar allegation pointing out that the construction of road from Phek to Chozuba via Thevopisü comes under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) and that “running accounts bills” were released on 17/03/2008, 30/07/2009 and 16/11/2010 respectively. The NPCC also asked the department of PWD (R & B) Phek to “spell out clearly the legality (and not the compelling circumstances) of the payments made”.
The NPCC press note also informed that the Congress had lodged a formal complaint on this project to the State Vigilance Commission (SVC), Nagaland on 19th April 2012 for thorough investigation. An on-spot verification of the project was carried out in June 2012. “With the completion of preliminary investigations, it is just a matter of time that charge sheets are prepared and FIR (First Information Report) filed by SVC against the accused and co-accused”, the NPCC stated and hoped that “SVC will not yield to any political pressure and deliver justice at the earliest”.
