By IANS,
Shillong: Goods worth crores of rupees were found missing after Meghalaya’s former speaker Martin M. Danggo vacated his official residence in May 2008, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said.
Among the goods missing was a poultry coop, for the construction of which Danggo had submitted a bill for Rs.11.81 lakh.
“Approval of such construction (poultry coop) at the official residence (of the speaker) from public money was not only unethical but also unauthorised,” the CAG report said.
This is not the first instance that the CAG has reported on financial mismanagement during Danggo’s tenure as assembly speaker.
Danggo did not hand over goods installed in his official residence before vacating it in May 2008.
Security-related items such as CCTV, additional cameras, and intercom PABX valued at Rs.1.94 crore were not returned, the report said.
Two Sony 50-inch LCD TV sets worth Rs.7,87,500, one set of P-IV Lenovo computer worth Rs.1,40,712, one air conditioner worth Rs.1,92,440 and three wall fans worth Rs.23,400 were among the list of items that were not returned.
A 2,857.14 sq.m carpet worth Rs.23 lakh, two dining tables (Rs.1,03,500), cycling machine, tread mill, weight machine, TFT monitor, revolving chair (one each) were also purchased by the then speaker.
The poultry coop’s construction was done by a contractor without “detailed plan, estimates, administrative approval and technical sanction,” the CAG report said, adding that no tender was called to assess competitive rates.