'Misappropriation of public funds by Nagaland government'

Kohima, 26th June 2021

The Naga People’s Front reiterate its fullest support with the party Legislature Wing representation submitted to the Hon’ble Governor seeking for independent enquiry by a central investigating agency into the misappropriation and embezzling of public funds by the NDPP led PDA government.

The party while endorsing the points raised by its legislature wing would like to supplement some of the points highlighted.

The first is on the subject of sanctioning of Rs. 30 crores to a private hospital for developing a makeshift Covid hospital. While the free of cost, 30 years lease of the land and buildings given to private entity needs thorough probe, pumping an additional amount to develop the hospital is appalling.

It needs to be mentioned here that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between three parties viz. CMC Vellore, Govt. of Nagaland and Emmanuel Hospital association in the year 2005, when the incumbent CM was at the helm of affairs, does not speculate in any of the clauses that the Government of Nagaland is obligated to make any investment during the lease period. While the Government of Nagaland has magnanimously given away land and build-up structures to private party for free, there are no visible profitable returns for the State and its people.

When the other hospitals in the districts of Nagaland are hardly running due to resource crunch, the Government of the day has the audacity to willfully neglect them and reward a private entity for whatever reasons was best known to the PDA Government. This sort of rampant misuse of public funds by Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio headed government needs to be dealt appropriately by law enforcing agency.

When the state is reeling under health emergence, equal importance should be accorded to all the District Hospitals, Community Health Centres or Primary Health Centres and sufficient funds and manpower should be prioritized.

On Kohima Smart City, the NPF fears that the present pace of work and situation, the iconic project would fail to meet the required targets and ultimately may fail to implement the project entirety.

It may be reminded that Kohima city could not score the required marks to come under the Smart City Project, as per the laid down guideline but during the DAN-III government under the Chief Ministership of T.R.Zeliang had taken the matter with utmost efforts and met the Prime Minister and other Union Ministers making favourable cases to accept the State Capital under this project.

And after much works, Kohima was selected out of 100 smart cities across the country and subsequently an amount of Rs. 1000 crores was sanctioned and 196 crore was released for the project during the year 2016-17. However, it was learnt that more fund from the Centre was not released in time due to State’s inability to give its share and further, rampant diversion of funds from the Smart City Project to other projects against the guidelines without proper approval by the present Government.

The Party is skeptical on the State Government asserting that it have no resource to provide the State’s share for the mega ‘Smart City’ project, and on the other hand for instances, the Government is spending Crores of Rupees acquiring land for Chiethu Green field Airport, which does not need immediate attention.

The hypocritical stand of the government will ultimately bring the affairs of the State to a standstill as paying out crores and crores of rupees to private entity in the name of fighting Covid-19 without following any protocol making payment for acquiring land when the state financial situation is reeling under darkness.

Therefore, the Party impressed upon the Hon'ble Governor to intervene and ensure that thorough probe into all these misgovernance and misappropriation of public fund is unearth and an appropriate action be taken as per the relevant section of law so as to ensure a better governance in the days to come.

Issued by:
Press Bureau,
Naga People’s Front,
Central Headquarters,
Kohima: Nagaland.