Meghalaya: Paul Lyngdoh defends ADC bailout plan as reform-linked lifeline

Correspondent

Shillong: Cabinet Minister and spokesperson in the MDA 2 government, Paul Lyngdoh, underscored the urgency of reforms in the state’s Autonomous District Councils (ADCs), warning of financial collapse if corrective measures are not taken.

“First and foremost, it’s very important to distinguish between voluntary funding and something that is mandatory. In this case, what the government has offered is a reform-based bailout plan, because at least a couple of these Autonomous District Councils are about to crumble financially. If they continue with the current style of functioning, revenue collection, and overstaffing, they will collapse in three to four years,” he said.

Laying out the government’s conditions, Lyngdoh clarified, “Before we reach that point, this is an offer for reform. For each reform undertaken, we are supporting you with this much financially. For revenue augmentation, the government is supporting you with this much. So, it is reform-based — you have to tick the right boxes. It’s not a blank cheque to the ADCs.”

He further questioned the existing system of overstaffing. “For instance, why does an ADC need to have a staff strength of 1,500? There is no rationale, no justification. You cut it down by half. To do that, the government will support you so that you can scale down that manpower.”

Calling the cabinet’s decision a “lifeline,” Lyngdoh asserted, “I reiterate that it is a very positive move on the part of the state government because, as you know, a lot of what the ADCs do also depends on the support that the state government gives them — the revenue share from minerals, for instance. We are interdependent, and in this case, wherever we find that the ADCs are about to reach a point of collapse, we would like to offer them a lifeline. This is the lifeline that the cabinet has offered.”

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