Mizoram Youth Congress urges govt to initiate probe, dismiss

The youth wing of opposition Congress on Saturday urged the state government to initiate a probe into a civil aviation official's activities and dismiss him from his post for allegedly stashing public money in his bank account. A principal consultant in the civil aviation wing of General Administration Department (GAD), J Lalhmingliana, deposited public money worth more than Rs 1 crore in his bank account, a statement issued by the Congress' youth wing said.

Lalhmingliana had deposited over Rs 16.72 lakh, which was received as fees for chartering helicopters and Rs 39.7 lakh from a consultancy firm, in his personal account on April 9 last year, it said. He again deposited Rs 45.35 lakh, received from a consultancy firm, and Rs 1.2 lakh from an MLA as chartering fee on April 10. Therefore, the total amount the officer had deposited in his bank account is about Rs 1.02 crore, the statement said.

The statement also said it is a serious matter and outright corruption. "We ask the government to probe the case, slap corruption charge against the official and sack him from his post at the earliest," the statement signed by Congress youth information and publicity secretary, Ngurdingpuia Pachuau, said.

On April 26 last year, the Congress' youth wing had file a complaint with the state Lokayukta chairman following which the corruption ombudsman on May 4 had instructed state's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to initiate a preliminary probe against Lalhmingliana. The Bureau was asked to submit its report within one month.

The Congress' youth wing had also submitted separate complaint to Chief Minister Zoramthanga on the same day, asking him to look into the case. Congress' youth wing president Dr Lalmalsawma Nghaka said so far we have heard nothing from the government though the complaint was filed eight months ago.

He alleged that the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) government has prevented the ACB to proceed further. Questioning the legal validity of Lalhmingliana's appointment as principal consultant of the civil aviation wing, Nghaka said that the government order, which accorded Lalhmingliana the right to exercise power as head of department, violates the fundamental rules and financial rules as civil aviation is only one of many wings under the GAD, which is headed by a commissioner and a secretary..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)