Itanagar, Mar 2 (UNI) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday informed the Assembly that the Special Investigation Cell (SIC) is probing into the ‘discrepancies’ in payment of superfluous land compensations given against the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) broad gauge project from Murkongselek (Assam’s Jonai) to Pasighat (East Siang in Arunachal).
Participating in the ‘short duration discussion’ initiated by senior Congress lawmaker Ninong Ering on delay in payment of land compensation and acquisition in connection with the NFR broad gauge project from Murkongselek to Pasighat (27Km), Khandu informed that in the phase-1, around Rs 73 crore had been paid which included admin charges, for just 7 Km stretch.
He said that the then Deputy Commissioner had sent the proposal to the Land Management Department and accordingly, it was processed and approved and then the fund for the first phase was released.
Informing the House that when the Ministry of Railways objected that they can’t pay that much, Khandu said that he had personally gone through the file and noticed that there was alteration in it.
“I had noticed there was an alteration in that file, approval was for something and decision given was for something else,” he said while adding that “Phase 1 payment made is under SIC investigation now.”
For phase-II of the project, Khandu said he has written to the DC, East Siang asking how much payment can be made while adding that the State government notified rate for agricultural land is Rs 150 per square metre for Pasighat.
Khandu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving importance to the communication sector in the State as well as the North East region under the Act East policy.
“The Government of India’s vision is very clear, but where is the vision of our people. State government officers have made the ambitious railway project ‘ambiguous’,” he lamented. The Government officers, if found engaged in corruption, strict action will be taken against them,” he said.
“Humlog naukri de to nahi sakta, par naukri kha sakta hein (post reforms brought in APPSC as well as creation of APSSB, State Government can’t make direct recruitment but can dismiss officers, if found indulged in illegal activities),” Khandu warned.
