Aizawl: Mizoram’s opposition Congress on Monday sought an apology from Chief Minister Zoramthanga over his remarks in connection with the implementation of the state’s health care scheme during the erstwhile Congress government.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Dr. Lallianchhunga said the chief minister while addressing a conference of Samagra employees had allegedly said that the Congress did not allocate even a single rupee for the implementation of the Mizoram State Health Care Scheme (MSHCS) during 10 years of its previous rule between 2008 and 2018.
Taking strong exception to the Chief Minister’s remarks, the Congress leader said, “It was a complete lie to mislead the people and tarnish the reputation of Congress. We are taking the matter seriously.”
He said that Congress on Monday served an ultimatum to Zoramthanga seeking an apology from him and set June as a deadline.
“Stern measures would be taken if the Chief Minister fails to apologize before June is over,” he said.
Quoting an RTI reply, Lallianchhunga said that the corpus fund for the implementation of MSHCS had been started in 2010 under the erstwhile Congress government.
Initially, Rs 117.80 crore was deposited as the corpus fund for the implementation of the health care scheme.
The corpus fund was deposited in several banks at a high rate of interest, he said.
In the last part of Congress government in December 2018, over Rs 155 crore had so far been accumulated in the corpus fund, he said.
He claimed that there had never been pending medical bills for beneficiaries under MSHCS during the Congress rule unlike it is under the Mizo National Front (MNF) government.
According to the Congress leader, medical bills amounting to Rs 71.21 crore are now pending for release to beneficiaries in the present MNF government headed by Zoramthanga.
The CMO could not be contacted for comment on the matter.