SHILLONG, JULY 10: The state Cabinet approved the decision to dissolve the Meghalaya State Housing Board (MSHB) and to spend Rs 7.42 crore for granting voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to over 18 employees of the board.
Addressing media persons, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said, “As you are aware this is a long pending decision and lots of the employees in the housing board have been requesting that this be done at the earliest…therefore, this agenda was brought today and the cabinet has approved this particular proposal to dissolve the MSHB and to grant VRS to the 18 employees of the board.”
According to him, the financial impact for granting VRS to the employees will be around Rs 7.42 crore.
Asked, the CM said, “Basically there was not much activity in the housing board as of now. It has been a long pending demand. In fact, for more than a decade if I am not wrong, the employees also have been asking as I said the activities also have been bear minimum and the salary of the employees have also been fluctuating sometimes they don’t receive the salary as it is an independent board – so all these aspects led to the request from the employees that they would like the board to be dissolved and based on that this decision was made.”
“The housing board was set up to avail loans from HUDCO and LIC and all these things way back in 1988-89 and now respective departments and other individuals can have other mechanisms of getting loans. Therefore, the basic functioning of this particular board is not there anymore,” he stated.