Agartala: Tripura Pradesh Congress leader and MLA Sudip Roy Barman on Monday demanded a special audit on the expenditure and procurements of essentials by the state government during the pandemic.
According to Barman, prior to the elections, the state government must come out clean with its brand of “transparent governance” model as when the pandemic struck, people of the state donated money for the welfare of the poor and needy.
“The Chief Minister’s relief fund received a huge number of donations from different parts of the state. People from all walks of life made their contribution to help each other fight it out in these distressing times. The government channelized the money for procurement of medical equipment, ventilators, additional beds and other essentials as many makeshift health facilities were set up to ease the overwhelming rush in the hospitals. But, after the pandemic was over, we didn’t know where the equipment vanished. We are still in the dark about how much money was collected in the CM’s relief fund. The money belonged to the public and Tripura Pradesh Congress demands a special audit needs to be commissioned in this regard,” said Barman.
The former Health Minister in BJP-IPFT government who had been unceremoniously dropped from the state cabinet also asked that in spite of the fact that so much equipment is procured, then why in the post-pandemic situation hospitals were suffering?
“The government must commission the inquiry as soon as possible and publish the report publicly within the month of December,” he said.
The Congress leader also took a dig at the state government’s move to make school certificates mandatory for social pension.
“The state government decided to invite fresh applications for social pension as per the prior announcement of including 30,000 new beneficiaries with the existing schemes. Accordingly, people submitted their applications. On November 04, the Social Welfare and Social Education department came up with a new circular in which it was clearly stated that those school certificates, admit cards of Madhyamik exams and PRTC (Permanent Resident Certificates) will only be considered as age proofs, unlike the previous system. Previously, Adhaar Card, Ration Cards, Voter ID etc documents were also accepted. This has created a big blockade as the majority of elderly persons do not have these documents. Clearly, it is another eyewash,” said Barman.
The Congress MLA also lashed out at the government for ignoring the birth anniversary celebrations of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Congress MLA was speaking at a press conference-cum-joining event organized at Congress Bhavan.
Former BJP spokesperson Prabir Chakraborty who had earlier served as an elected member of Agartala Municipal Council (Now Corporation) joined the Congress in presence of Barman, AICC Secretary Szaritha Laitphlang and other senior leaders.
As many as 47 active workers of the BJP and other parties joined the Congress at the event.
Also Read | NE Olympics medal tally: Meghalaya climb to 4th; Manipur close on Assam for 1st place