Tura, April 17: A municipal board in Meghalaya’s Garo hills has violated model code of conduct by auctioning various entry point check gates in South Garo Hills district.
The auctioning were scrapped today after opposition was registered by other parties that the timing of the auctioning was a clear violation of code of coduct, which is still in place.
Sources in Baghmara Municipal Board tell us that the auctioning was done to pay up pending dues of the staff. The board has not been able to pay salaries for its odd 120 staffs since August 2013.The auctioning was done on April 11.
The tender box was opened after due instructions were given by in charge deputy commissioner of South Garo Hills, T G Momin, in absence of deputy commissioner, Chinmay Gotmare. Momin is also the chief executive officer of Baghmara Municipal Board.
Momin had finalized the auction after accepting due payments in advance. However, this was cancelled today, as many other interested parties expressed their opposition that such a move is model code violation.
Momin told The Telegraph, “New process will be initiated after May 16 counting”. He also made an effort to defend his move saying that he had to consider as the board was under severe financial crisis.
“We have not been able to pay salaries for the last 7 months and that should not be the case for the board”, said Momin. (SP News)
