Imphal: Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Wednesday demanded investigation by an independent investigative agency into the alleged scam in the implementation of PMGSY in Manipur.
The matter should be investigated by an independent and neutral central agency, MPCC spokesperson Ningonbam Bupenda Meitei said at a press conference held in Congress Bhavan here today.
He claimed that the MPCC had on many occasions exposed the fraudulent withdrawals of bills for development of roads under the Central sponsored PMGSY. The allegations were based on the documents and after spot inspections, the Congress leader said.
At the same time, concerned Manipur Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RD & PR) minister Y Khemchand had also given his statements on the issue.
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In order to know the facts, the Manipur government should investigate the allegations by handing over the matter to an independent central investigation agency, Bupenda demanded.
He also said that the MPCC stands by its allegations and the state government should not take the matter lightly as it is related with the utilization of public funds.
The MPCC spokesperson further demanded that if any of the ministers in the present government is found involved in the misappropriation of the public funds after the investigation, he or she should be removed from the council of ministers.
Further, if official(s) of the Rural Engineering department (RED), the implementing agency of the PMGSY in the state, were involved, appropriate actions should be initiated against them, he said.
The MPCC spokesperson also rejected an allegation hurled by the RD and PR minister alleging uploading documents in the custody of the Public Account Committee (PAC) of Manipur Legislative Assembly on the social media platform of the MPCC.
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The documents uploaded on social media were in any way related to the PAC. The MPCC, however, will not comment against it further as the RD and PR minister had informed, through media, that he had submitted a written letter regarding the matter to the Speaker of the state Assembly, the Congress leader also said.
As the matter is in the court of the Assembly, the MPCC has nothing to say as the party (Congress) always respects the rules of law, he said.
NNN