Dimapur, November 14 : The NPCC has made a scathing attack on the DAN government headed by TR Zeliang, alleging lapses, blunders and corrupt practices by it.
According to a press communiqué issued by NPCC working president Ayang Aonok on Monday, no other government in the State since statehood had been so mired in corrupt practices as the DAN regime. The State Congress opined that the only course left before the beleaguered Chief Minister is to resign from office or the Governor should step in to dismiss the government without further delay.
The Congress alleged that the TR Zeliang government made a U-turn on the issue of elections to urban bodies oblivious of the resolution of the Select Committee of Nagaland Legislative Assembly in 2012 under his chairmanship unanimously rejecting applicability of part 1XA of the Constitution of India and further recommending to the Assembly to pass a resolution to frame own laws for conduct of Municipal and Town Committee elections in lieu of part 1XA of the Constitution.
The Congress said the select committee under the chairmanship of TR Zeliang, Minister of Planning, AH & V, Parliamentary Affairs, had opined that part 1XA of the Constitution of India contravenes the provision of Article 371(A). “This indicates that TR Zeliang changes his stance at his whims and fancies on crucial issues and therefore it is incumbent upon his advisors to bring him to sense and convince him to make an unequivocal statement on this crucial and sensitive issue,” it stated.
It said the voices of dissent are trampled upon and dictatorial tendency is raising its head against the backdrop of a solid majority behind it to the extent of curtailing the session of Assembly to a few hours and debarring MLAs from raising question in the Assembly.
“Despite its avowed closeness to NDA government at the centre, the DAN in Nagaland is still limping and the financial health of the state is deteriorating by the day coupled with cans of worms tumbling out each passing day,” it stated.
The NPCC also mentioned that the present DAN government has a record contingent of advisers in Nagaland’s history. ‘However, policy paralysis and mishandling of almost every issue has dogged the DAN resulting in total collapse of governance,” it added.
Also alleging that the DAN government has scant regard for State Government employees, the release said the employees are treated with disdain, salaries are withheld in many departments while backdoor appointments continue unabated. “But at the end of the day, government servants are blamed for consuming a major chunk of state budget,” it said. Noting that the teachers are extolled for their noble profession, the Congress said in reality they are treated as a bonded labourers making them work without salaries for months together, which can be gauged from throttling of their legitimate demand to get the salary released and browbeating them by using water cannon.
According to the State Congress, the DAN government also erred in welcoming and joining the mainstream of GST regime which talks of one nation and one tax. “Jammu & Kashmir is exempted from the purview of this tax regime. However, without proper consideration; despite article 371 (A) the Nagaland Legislative Assembly ratified the bill in a hurry ostensibly to appease the Centre,” it said.
Pointing out that the Supreme Court in a recent judgment ruled that election of a candidate can be set aside for making false declaration on educational qualification in the nomination papers, the State Congress said the court held that a voter has a fundamental right to information about the contesting candidate.
Regarding his educational qualification, the NPCC alleged “the chief minister is hiding behind legal nicety and refuses to speak the truth unlike N Rio, who had openly clarified through the print media”. “The issue before the chief minister is merely to admit ‘pass or fail’ before the people in his BA examination, nothing more nothing less,” it said.
“It is hilarious and downright unethical of person holding the position of chief Minister to let his qualification known to the people through a cumbersome legal process,” the Congress opined.
It said the anti-corruption crusaders have been raising its voices, tumbling out skeletons in almost all key departments and putting the government on the mat through RTI and other reliable sources.
The Congress pointed to the petroleum issue as a case in point. “This narrative encompasses everyone and therefore the government should have handled the issue with utmost sincerity and sensitivity. However the DAN government unleashed police force to contain the protestors,” it said.
Quoting Lord Acton the NPCC said “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”, adding the maxim absolutely fits the DAN regime considering the magnitude of corruption and mind-boggling disclosure of DAN’s third regime’s misdeeds. “However, insensitivity and callousness is the hallmark of the DAN government headed by TR Zeliang,” it alleged.
The Congress also pointed to the Governor’s anguish expressed in a press conference in Kohima on November 10 over the manner in which funds were siphoned off and his appeal to the people to get hold of the person who is siphoning all the money. “The anguish expressed through the media by no less a person than a Governor in such a candid manner is unprecedented and speak volumes of the morass that we are in,” it said.
“To buttress the Governor and add insult to the injury, NPF ally BJP has boldly gone on record to say that DAN government is corrupt; DAN government has crossed all limits, and acknowledged that people were in utter misery,” it stated.
In the light of the Governor’s frustration, NPF’s most prized ally BJP’s candid admission of corruption and a series of ultimatums served on the government over corruption and mismanagement by various organisations is a pointer to the fact that Nagaland is headed towards a “despotic” and “kleptocratic regime”, it said.
