Shillong, Dec 5: The state government has threatened to sue opposition AITC national spokesperson Saket Gokhale for alleging that there are financial irregularities of over Rs 632 crore which is meant for the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project.

“The State Government views this very seriously and is considering suing the issuer of this press statement for defamation,” a statement issued by the Commissioner and Secretary in-charge Planning department said on Monday.

It said the State Government strongly rejects all these claims, which are fabricated and devoid of facts. The issuer of the (AITC) statement has made such motivated and inaccurate claims in the past and it appears that the sole intention behind the recent press statement is to mislead the public.

“Further, the issuer (Gokhale) of this press statement never approached the State Government or any of its agencies to seek any information nor used any of the publicly available information including those available at https://meghalayatenders.gov.in,” it said.

The statement further informed that the Meghalayan Age Limited (MAL) is a State Govt company under the aegis of the Planning Department, which has been incorporated under Section 2 (45) of the Companies Act, 2013. The project cost for the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project (MEIDP) is about Rs 731 Cr and is one of the many externally aided projects (EAPs) being implemented in the State. It must be noted that under any EAP being implemented in the northeastern states, the Government of India passes 90% of the funding as grants to the State government. Thus, only 10% of the total amount has to be paid by the State government.

Further, the entire tendering process for MEIDP is being done as per the norms of the State Government and is being overseen and approved by the funding agency, the New Development Bank (NDB). All the details are made available to the public at – https://meghalayatenders.gov.in. “Given the above, it appears that all the claims being made by the issuer of the press statement seem to be highly motivated,” the government statement said.

The statement also gave a point-by-point rebuttal to the accusations made and shared the truth for each. Below are the claims and truth.

Claims
Tenders and RFPs have been floated for these projects – however, the tenders have been floated by Meghalayan Age Ltd. and NOT the govt of Meghalaya which means that none of the details of the tenders are public and the process of awarding these tenders and the names of contractors who have been awarded these tenders is SECRET and not revealed publicly.

Truth
The works tenders have been floated by the respective departments – Public Works Department, Directorate of Tourism and the State Sports Council of Meghalaya. The entire tendering process is being done as per the norms of the State Government and is being overseen and approved by the New Development Bank. All the details are made available to the public on – https://meghalayatenders.gov.in/

Claims
A majority of projects under the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project are construction of roads which technically falls under the ambit of PWD Roads but is instead being undertaken by Meghalayan Age Ltd Road construction and public works are a sector where massive corruption and irregularities have been seen in the past with most contracts going to favoured “special” contractors like Badri Rai & Company instead of local contractors. It is absolutely bizarre and unclear why road construction projects worth crores are being undertaken with borrowed funds in the guise of “ecotourism development” when these are basic responsibilities of the PWD.

Truth
The roads sub-projects comprises just 14% of the total project size. Further, these road sub-projects are indeed being taken up by the PWD as part of the overall project. It must be noted that the development of tourism cannot happen in silos. Connectivity is integral to tourism and such connectivity projects are also taken under GoI-sponsored programs such as SWADESH Darshan and PRASAD.

Claims
Shockingly, the company Meghalayan Age Ltd. under IAS D Vijay Kumar has NOT FILED A SINGLE FINANCIAL REPORT with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs since its inception in 2020. In that period, amount of USD 79.05 million (i.e. ₹632 crores) from the New Development Bank (NDB) has been sanctioned for ecotourism projects by Meghalayan Age. However, not a single penny has been accounted for. Moreover, the company Meghalayan Age Ltd. has floated tenders worth crores for numerous projects as well as for consultants. The MDA government has a track record for appointing “consultants” with a process that has zero transparency. Keeping with that tradition, IAS D Vijay Kumar has sanctioned crores worth of projects without any transparency in how the projects were awarded, to whom they were awarded, and what was the criteria for awarding the projects.

Truth
All the statutory and legal compliances are being met and followed by the Meghalayan Age Limited. It is mandated by the external funding agencies (New Development Bank in this case) that Project Management Units (PMU) be set up for overseeing the progress and implementation of the externally aided projects. These PMUs are selected through international, open and competitive bidding and typically global consulting firms get onboarded as PMUs. This standard process is being followed for all the EAPs in not just Meghalaya, but in other State and Central Government projects too.

Claims
A flurry of tenders have been floated and projects been awarded by Meghalayan Age Ltd. in the last 3 months which raises serious questions about why projects are being hurriedly handed out without any transparency just before the Meghalaya Assembly Elections are scheduled.

Truth
It is incorrect that a flurry of tenders has been floated in the last three months. To date, 8 major works tenders have been floated under the project. Out of these, 2 were floated in December 2021; another 4 were floated in March 2022 and the remaining two were floated in the months of August 2022 and October 2022 respectively. Further, one of the conditions for the signing of the project agreement is that projects worth 30% of the project size be tendered and awarded. Given that the agreement is scheduled to be signed during the month of January 2023, it is imperative that projects worth Rs. 219 Cr are awarded by December 2022. It must be noted that all the processes are being followed for tendering and awarding of projects. They are done only after the required approvals have been obtained from the NDB.

Claims
It is absolutely unfathomable why Meghalayan Age Ltd. has not fulfilled its requirements under law and has not filed a single financial report since 2020 despite having been given over 600 crores of rupees in funds. Moreover, these funds have been borrowed as a foreign currency loan by the Govt of Meghalaya which means people of Meghalaya are being saddled with huge loans without any transparency in how that money is being used. Projects worth crores of rupees have been awarded under Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project to Meghalayan Age Ltd headed by IAS D Vijay Kumar without any record of how the money is being spent and how the projects are being awarded.

Truth
All the statutory and legal compliances are being met and followed by the Meghalayan Age Limited. A few aspects of how Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) are funded, sanctioned and implemented need to be clearly understood to appreciate the State’s emphasis on these projects. First, for the northeastern states, EAP money is almost equivalent to a grant from the GoI. The GoI borrows the project cost as a soft loan from external agencies and 90 per cent of it is provided as a grant to Meghalaya. The State will only have to repay 10 per cent of the project cost over a 12-20 year period at the most nominal interest rates. Thus, EAP money is the cheapest source of funding and is almost equivalent to a grant from the Government of India for our State. All the processes, norms and rules are being followed with regard to the finances and awarding of the project.