Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan chaired a meeting of Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. It was attended by Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, members from the Council and officials from the state government.
Governor said that he was eager to have his first meeting with the Council and lauded the efforts of CADC for the development of the region. He said that as government servants, all are bound to do something for the welfare of the people and need to be accountable and transparent in work. He said justice must be done to every rupee spent out of the public money and there should not be lapses on the part of the government.
He urged the Council members to find the potential of the region, evolve a plan of action to take advantage of it, prepare DPRs and try to raise the income of the Council. He also emphasized the need to have regular meetings in order to evaluate whether the decisions taken during previous meetings have been implemented. The Governor also urged them to ensure that there is a concrete administrative system in place despite shortcomings in transportation and communication infrastructure.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said whenever the Congress is in power, his government has not interfered in the working of the three Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) trying to give maximum autonomy according to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. He said that the ADCs should function independently because they know their people and their requirement better and that the state government has always tried to increase their powers including the budget allocation.
“My government has sometimes felt the need of an authority to oversee the spending of the Council; however, they have not restricted their spending till date. It is unfortunate that there have been gross mismanagement of funds in some of the District Councils despite all the efforts,” Lal Thanhawla said advising the council to utilize their fund judiciously and for the purpose for which they have been sanctioned by both the Central and State government. He also hoped that the Council will adhere to all the rules, and do the best for the welfare of the people.
Several issues pertaining to the Council were discussed during the meeting such as the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, financial management, mode of release of funds to the Council, infrastructural issues, health sector, education, recruitment to various posts under the Council, monitoring of developmental works and streamlining of the administrative setup in the Autonomous District Councils among others.
A presentation on the Chakma Autonomous District Council was made by Rodney L Ralte, secretary of District Council and Minority Affairs department. He also highlighted several projects undertaken by the Council since 2016.