DIMAPUR, APRIL 2 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) today demanded the removal of Finance Advisor, TR Zeliang and Home Minister, Y Patton from their respective posts.
A press note from the NPCC alleged that the NPF-BJP government is “wholly responsible for adding another Rs. 463.52 crores deficit during last financial year 2016-17 thereby shooting up the overall deficit figures to Rs. 1657.87 crores.” The total state budget of 2016-17 at Rs. 13,658.75 crores had little impact on ground while another deficit of Rs. 463.52 crores has been added, it stated.
The NPCC said that TR Zeliang who was the Chief Minister and also Minister in charge of Finance during this period 2016-17 is “wholly answerable for adding this Rs. 463.52 crores deficit within a year.”
“It is a sad irony that even after being deposed as Chief Minister; TR Zeliang continues to illegally occupy the post of Advisor Finance and merrily presides over the issues of state finance,” the NPCC said, while demanding the white paper to be brought out on adding Rs. 463.52 crores to a deficit of Rs. 1657.87 crores “since this abnormal increase is a matter of great concern.”
It further accused the Home Minister of “defending backdoor appointments in the Police Department” and “taking shelter under the 2010 P&AR memorandum that excluded the police departments while also shifting blame on SPs and Commandants for appointments of constables.”
The SPs and Commandants could not have made unauthorized appointments without the blessings of higher ups, the NPCC claimed. “Despite knowing that there were more than 1600 excess appointments when he took over in 2014, he has miserably failed to streamline the excess personnel and rather appointed more than 2000 unauthorized personnel’s on one pretext or the other. No amount of justification will wash away the illegal actions of the Home Minister and for which NPCC out rightly demands his removal from the cabinet,” it added.
