On February 8th, Mr. Arun Limboo, Spokesperson of our party conducted a site visit to the Namchi Community Hall, raising serious concerns about financial mismanagement. He revealed the RTI documents that showed that SKM has escalated the project cost to 96 crores. Shri Pawan Chamling had sanctioned this project at a cost of less than 20 crores and had made significant progress up until 2019.
This approximately 80 crores difference is a matter of grave concern for the state’s finances. With 80 crore thousands of youths could have received financial assistance, hundreds of homes could have been built, thousands of youths could have received jobs. The question arises as to why the government is silent on this issue that is affecting the future of thousands in Sikkim.
Further investigation into this matter has revealed that this contractor has received similar escalated contracts worth hundreds of crores. This means that hundreds of crores of public money has been lost to financial irregularities. The public’s money being lost in this manner hampers the future of thousands of youths who are deprived of jobs and facilities.
At the same time there have been daily meetings held by the SKM party in almost 30 constituencies, and many state level SKM meetings since the 1st of January already. The expenditure of these meetings are in the hundreds of crores, with suspicion arising as to the source of the funds. On the one hand, Chief Minister Golay regularly complains about the lack of funds in the government while on the other hand, there has been record breaking spending on party meetings.
Amidst mounting challenges, the government’s prioritization of political agendas over public welfare is evident, casting doubts on its integrity and commitment to governance.
Judy Rai
General Secy., Press & Publicity Affairs
SDF
