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Mukul Sangma attacks Meghalaya govt over continuing GHADC employees strike
Mukul Sangma, also the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said the state government was deliberately ignoring the plight of GHADC employees
Shillong: Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Sangma on Friday sharpened his attack on the Meghalaya government over the continuing strike by the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) employees to demand payment of pending dues, describing the failure to end the agitation as the “governance failure of the highest order”.
Mukul, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, said the state government was deliberately ignoring the plight of GHADC employees and undermining the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. “The Sixth Schedule is the only constitutional safeguard to protect our identity, land, culture, and resources. By ignoring the autonomous district councils, the state is effectively diluting this special provision,” he said.
The former chief minister recalled that when he was the chief minister, the government in 2015-16 received ₹100.71 crore from the Centre under Article 275 for the three autonomous councils.
GHADC was the second-highest recipient, but misuse of the package under the ruling National People’s Party-led Executive Committee had triggered judicial scrutiny and stalled further releases. “The incumbent CM Conrad Sangma knows how that money was used. Why are the cases against this misuse still pending before the Lokayukta?” Mukul asked.
Rejecting the CM’s argument that he inherited the GHADC’s financial mess, Mukul accused successive NPP-led ECs of mismanagement and of running “a misinformation campaign instead of finding solutions.”
“Do they have a malafide agenda to weaken the ADCs and the Sixth Schedule? People of Garo Hills are beginning to ask this,” he warned.
Civil society organisations have also thrown their weight behind the Non-Gazetted Employees’ Association (NGEA) of GHADC.
In a joint statement, the CSOs accused the council of “chronic maladministration, financial recklessness, and a flagrant disregard for accountability.” They demanded immediate salary disbursal, adoption of Service and Finance Rules, digitisation of transactions, and setting up of a Public Accounts Committee to prevent the collapse of the institution.
The organisations also came out strongly against the proposed handover of Tura Medical College and Hospital (TMCH) to private entities under a PPP model, warning that it would jeopardise affordable healthcare. “The PPP model raises serious concerns about prioritising profit over public welfare, potentially restricting access to affordable healthcare for marginalised communities,” they said, demanding that TMCH remain state-managed with 85 per cent of seats reserved for local students.
The CSOs — including A’chik Youth Welfare Organisation (AYWO), Federation of Khasi Jaintia & Garo people (FKJGP), Garo Students Union (GSU), Association for Democracy and Empowerment (ADE), and Federation for A’chik Freedom (FAF) — also launched a poster campaign across Garo Hills highlighting the GHADC salary crisis and their opposition to the privatisation of TMCH.
The GHADC has been plagued by salary disputes for over a decade, with repeated agitations by employees over non-payment of wages. Salary agitations have dogged GHADC for years, but the ongoing 40-day strike is one of the longest yet.
