Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday faced criticism for failing to provide information on the unfulfilled sanctioned posts in various departments of the state from 2018 to 2022.
Opposition chief whip George Lyngdoh had raised the subject during the question hour. He has asked the CM if information for the last four years could be given, but according to Sangma, the information was still being collected.
The chief minister in his defence said that he wanted to be responsible and provide accurate numbers because if he failed to do so, he could be accused of misleading the House.
“Vacancies and posts being filled up are dynamic processes, changing during the course of time. If I was to give a number, it should be the latest figures. The exercise of collecting this huge data is in process,” claimed Sangma.
Sangma said there are over 63 directorates, more than 60 departments, and 12 DC offices. In addition to these, there are over 6 Sub Divisional Officers, over 46 blocks, and Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, and Vellore, each has a Meghalaya House.
Seizing the opportunity, AITC MLA Zenith Sangma mentioned that the government should be in a position to give information on the floor of the House.
Zenith Sangma alleged that the government has kept it in abeyance without appointing the youth and that is the reason why it is intentionally not informing the House of the latest figures.
Salmanpara MLA Winnerson Sangma sarcastically remarked that in this digital era where all information is available online, it is surprising that such complications are countered.
Sangma retorted that even with technology, the information has to be manually fed into the system. It is difficult to get information from 1972 to the present day because records were not maintained properly, he said.
Former Meghalaya Speaker and AITC state president Charles Pyngrope said that the government might have a rough idea if not an accurate one.
George Lyngdoh requested the CM to provide statistics till March 2021, to which the CM retorted that if he did that, Lyngdoh would say that the government does not have the latest information.
This irked Lyngdoh, who stated that the House doesn’t function on presumptions or assumptions.
Chokpot constituency MLA Lazarus Sangma chimed in to ask the reason why the vacant posts weren’t filled.
The chief minister said different processes are carried out by different recruitment boards adding that recruitment for more than 3000 people is currently taking place.
“We had a lot of challenges, also due to COVID, we couldn’t hold exams or conduct interviews. There were a lot of restrictions, so that added to our problem, but the process to fill them is going on,” said Sangma.
Mawsynram MLA Hima Shangpliang asked why an advertisement to fill the posts of peons at the Secretariat was published when the government already has 123 casual peons in place since 2013.
According to him, casual peons were appointed on January 20, 2012. On March 12, 2013, 60 people were appointed as casual peons, and at present, there are 123 casual peons in various departments.
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