Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said there is nothing to fear as loans are part of government expenditure.
“Every government takes loans but the Government of India has put a limit on the amount of the loan so there is nothing to worry about. We are spending it in a proper manner,” Sangma said in his reply to the budget discussion.
He said the consolidating sinking funds was also created as a backup in case interest and repayment cannot be done.
He said the Government of India is very strict on this and no states are allowed to go beyond the limit.
He informed that 90% of loans are being paid by the Government of India and only 10% by the state government.
“It is almost like a grant. So it would be a loss for us not to take advantage of that because 90% of loan components are repaid by the Centre. This is something one should not worry as a strict system is in place,” the CM said.
On the allegation that Meghalaya is number one corrupt state, Sangma said this statement made during the elections by certain individuals, who even attended the swearing in ceremony of this government, are election statements.
He said there was a time when the Congress government was in power in Delhi, there were also allegations against them such as the cash for vote, chopper scam, 2G scam and others adding so allegations will always be there.
“However, if you go to the market, Meghalaya is known for the Meghalayan Age, we are known for our Lakadong turmeric, rock capital, root bridges…,” the CM said.
Sangma said the government is setting the target to achieve a 10 billion dollar economy and create 5 lakh jobs in the next five years. He said 45,000 jobs will be created from the tourism sector, 50,000 from IT, 10,000 from government and semi-government sectors and 1 lakh from entrepreneurship and others.
Sangma said the government is contemplating creating multiple skywalks so that people get into the culture of walking and use less vehicles and the idea of the ropeway is to provide good tourism.
The chief minister informed that another 300 million dollars or Rs 2,400 crore projects have been approved for the MITPs. “This is because the World Bank is happy that the government has done a good job,” he added.
On the demand for Sohra district, the chief minister assured that the government will do its best to find a solution and resolve the issue relating to disagreement among the citizens keeping in mind that East Khasi hills is the biggest district in terms of population.