Principal Correspondent
KOHIMA, JULY 24
CONGRESS legislature Party (CLP) leader, Tokheho Yepthomi today exposed Rs. 77 crore scam and another huge amount of revenue loss in Nagaland state Lotteries Department.
Participating in the general discussion on Budget 2014-15 presented by Chief Minister TR Zeliang on Tuesday, Yepthomi said state lotteries department is one of the main sources to support the state’s own revenue.
Nevertheless, he alleged that a firm M/s Cairs owes Rs 77 crores to the state government and the matter is in the court.
Seeking proper reply on the alleged scam from the Leader of the House while presenting the Government’s reply to the Budget discussion, he said “We are not aware as to whether the Cabinet Ministers are aware of the case”.
He said the firm is now almost non-existent and the company has now filed a counter affidavit in the court stating that they do not owe (Rs 77 crore) to the state government as per the ‘supplementary order’ issued by the State Government.
He said it is learnt that the earlier MoU/Order which was approved by the Cabinet was further revised and the supplementary order was signed by some senior bureaucrats without processing the matter on the file and without the approval of the Cabinet.
“It seems the file is non-existent in the office as well,” he told the House, adding that the case could be just a tip of teh iceberg where there are lots of leaksages of State Government revenue in order to benefit the individuals.
In this connection, yepthomi requested the Chief Minister to provide appropriate response in the government’s reply as to when did the Cabinet decide and what rate was offered to M/s Cairs for dealership of State Lotteries; when and who were the officers who signed the supplementary order to M/s Cairs; whether State Government has initiated an enquiry or SIT before referring the matter to the court?
The CLP Leader also highlighted that the State Lotteries Department had floated a tender and the firm which offered Rs. 35000 per draw was rejected while the firm with the lowest offer of Rs. 15000 per draw was granted the tender, thereby resulting into a huge loss of revenue to the state.
“We are not aware as to whether all these decisions are taken by the Chief Minister who is in-charge of Finance Department, or the matter is discussed in the Cabinet,” he quipped.
Expressing that such mismanagements have added to the huge deficit of the state, the CLP leader also maintained that the deficit has increased because of the increase in the random appointment of 4791 government servants, which is 1,20,518 employees in 2013-2014 to 1,25,309 in 2014-15. He said the expenditure on payment of salaries to the government employees has also gone up from Rs. 3194.92 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 3580.72 crores in 2014-15.
He said if the government is serious to curb the huge financial deficit of the state, it should stop such appointments at least during the fiscal deficit stage.
He also maintained that the fiscal deficit was also because of heavy cost escalation of construction of palatial directorates buildings and cricket stadium at Sovima Dimapur, which ranges from 100-700 per cent while the revenue departments of the government have failed to collect revenue, besides the installation of the jumbo sized DAN ministry, which is adding to the state’s exchequer.
The CLP leader also cited non-locals doing contract works in the name of local people, which he said, avoids tax collection to both the Centre and State Governments. He therefore requested the government to let the non-locals do business in the name of their own firm and pay tax to the government.
The financial position of the state is deteriorating because of the mismanagement and mis-governance of the NPF-led DAN government in the state for the last 12 years, the CLP leader added.
