Shillong, July 1: Deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong in-charge District Council Affairs (DCA) has advocated for the councils to ensure financial prudence and accountability and indicated state government’s limitations in continuously providing financial support to the ailing councils.
As autonomous bodies, the district councils are expected to generate their own revenue and manage expenditures responsibly, Tynsong told reporters on Friday.
“They are supposed to manage. They are supposed to generate revenue on their own… If you earn 100 rupees and spend 200 rupees, what will happen?” he said, urging them to curb unnecessary spending.
Responding to queries on prolonged salary delays in the three autonomous district councils (ADCs) in Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills, he said the salary delays have been recurring for years, sometimes extending up to eight months.
“Even two, three months — it is not a joke. How do the employees manage to survive?” he said.
Asked about any plan for financial assistance from state government, he said, “We used to help them out by way of releasing advance shares… We will see again….”
To allegations of over Rs 100 crore misappropriation in GHADC, Tynsong avoided a direct reply, saying, “It is too early to say anything… Audit is there. Let us wait till the report is placed.”
