POLITICS-Probe assured into "misappropriation" of funds in Arunachal

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday said the alleged misappropriation of funds for repairing and maintenance of a portion of the Trans Arunachal Highway (TAH) in Upper Subansiri district will be probed. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Assembly, BJP MLA Nyato Rigia alleged that a major portion of about Rs 60 crore, which was sanctioned for repairing and maintenance of the road under the Potin-Pangin stretch of the highway, was misappropriated.

The MLA from Taliha constituency in the Subansiri district also claimed that almost 70 percent of payments have already been made by the state public works department on recommendation of the deputy commissioner without any progress of the works. Unlike other parts of the state, works on the Potin- Pangin portion of the highway, was not going smoothly, Khandu admitted.

The state government had authorized the district's deputy commissioner to constitute a committee to monitor all repair and maintenance works, he said, adding that the payment was made to the contractors only after the recommendation of the committee. "Though the payment was made only for completed works I assure the house to depute another committee to find out the facts," the Chief Minister said.

Urging the government for strict monitoring of the project, Rigia rued the people of the district continued to suffer.