Congress chief gives Conrad govt zero rating

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 28, 2021

Congress chief Vincent H Pala on Friday gave the Conrad K Sangma-led government “zero” on its three and a half years performance.

“If I were to rate this government’s performance, I would give it zero. Because till date, they have not done anything for the development of the state,” Pala, also Shillong MP, told journalists here.

Stating that there was high expectation from the people of the state when the MDA government had taken over in 2018, he said this is because on one hand very experienced (leaders) left the Congress and joined them on the other late PA Sangma’s legacy Conrad K Sangma and James K Sangma are highly educated.

“Unfortunately, I think that expectation which the people had at the initial stage is almost zero now. People thought that they will serve the people but I think unfortunately they are trying to serve for themselves and their families and friends – so that is the common talk of people you know better than me,” he alleged.

The Congress leader also slammed the state government for its failure to address the drug related problems.

“Now drugs are a big issue for Meghalaya, they have not done anything, rather it has increased,” he said while alleging that despite the government’s decision to increase the excise duty but not a single rehabilitation centre was set up.

He said,  “They (govt) have taken lots of money from the drunkards but they have not done anything for them.”

Further accusing the government of looting the people of the state, Pala said, “(While) many of the states they could control the COVID-19 cases but here in Meghalaya we cannot control it. They promise coal rather they loot from the drivers, they loot in the name of the so-called COVID, they loot in the name of poor people for rice, they loot in the name of drug addicts – so all these things I think people have lost the expectation from them that is why I say it is zero rating rather it should be minus if you compared to many of the areas. The people have totally lost their confidence in this government.”

Asked, Pala however said there is still time for MDA partners to work for the better of the state.

“If they do well I will be very happy because if they do well the state will do well especially in terms of tourism we can give lots of employment. Capital investment is nil so far. They have taken loans and how they will repay the state will not be able to sustain. You have seen MeECL take out loans to repay the loan they will not be able to sustain instead of making capital investment for new projects, build new projects and have a long term plan,” he said.

“Recently I had a meeting, there were 8 DPRs which are supposed to be sanctioned so that we can be self-sustaining in terms of power but not a single project has been sanctioned so far…whatever they have done there is always a problem because the public has lost confidence in them. The trust and the expectations, the aspirations people have are totally lost,” he added.

The Congress leader said that people will not allow them to work so long if they think that they are going to make money out of it and not to help the people.

“That is why I say they still have time to do it one and a half years is a long time in politics. They have time to get more sanctions as they are with the BJP,” he stated.