Deputy Chief Minister and District Council Affairs Minister Prestone Tynsong, while reacting to the alarming 43-month salary backlog in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council, asserted that the District Councils function as autonomous entities. He called upon all three councils to introspect on their financial practices and curb unwarranted expenditures, hinting at a deeper crisis of fiscal mismanagement that continues to undermine the credibility and efficiency of these constitutionally mandated institutions.
“See, if you ask me the question of the salary of all the District Councils, first I should tell you about all the District Councils of the State of Meghalaya. You know well that all three District Councils are autonomous, and they are supposed to manage, they are supposed to generate revenue on their own. I am very sure according to that capacity then appointment or recruitment is accordingly decided,” Tynsong asserted.
Taking a scathing dig at the fiscal mismanagement plaguing the councils, he said, “As far as the three District Councils are concerned — be it Jaintia Hills, Garo Hills, or Khasi Hills — I have seen not only this year but for so many, many years this issue keeps happening. Sometimes the staff don’t get salaries for six months, seven months, eight months, except maybe in Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council. Otherwise, as I said, it happened that way only.”
While clearly distancing the state government from the repeated salary crises, Tynsong said, “Ultimately from the government side we have nothing to say much, but we would like to only suggest and advise all three District Councils to also understand to minimise the unnecessary expenditure. It is too much — not getting even two-three months (salary) is not a joke. How do they manage to survive?”
He underlined the urgent need for introspection within the ADCs. “Now we leave it to the wisdom of the respective District Council. They need to also manage financially well and understand the crisis they are facing.”
When asked if the state government is planning a bailout package for GHADC, Tynsong revealed that while assistance had been extended earlier, it cannot be guaranteed as a norm. “Releasing of the amount — there were incidents where we ultimately helped them out by way of releasing advance share due to the District Council. We used to do and we keep doing that. So we will see again with the situation that is there in GHADC and KHADC.”
Tynsong’s remarks signal growing unease within the state cabinet over the chronic instability in the functioning of the autonomous councils, which are increasingly seen as fiscally unviable and politically mismanaged entities.
