Toulazouma villagers allege misuse of public funds & property

May 22, 2022 100 Views No Comment

Claims nexus between government and Village Council leaders

Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 22

Five frontal organisations of Toulazouma Village, Chümoukedima, on May 21, have alleged series of corruption occurring within the village including misallocation public funds, encroachment of public land and other ‘illegal activities.’

The organisations, comprising Tenyimia Welfare Union (TWU), Toulazouma Women Organisation (TWO), Toulazouma Students’ Union (TSU), Toulazouma Youth Organisation (TYO) and Welfare Group (WG), organised a village public meeting to address these issues on Saturday.

“Toulazouma Village is one of the most corrupted places and is dictated by some individuals under the leadership of some UGs which have threatened the villagers for a long time,” claimed Shelepa Rhakho, one of the public leaders, who spoke to media persons after the meeting.

Toulazouma, recognised by the State Government on February 3, 2012, currently has around 900 plus households within its jurisdiction, according to government registry.

Rhakho explained that the issues within the village had been taken up by likeminded individuals through the formation of organisations such as TWG and WG.

Accordingly, the organisations filed a Right to Information (RTI) with the Department of Rural Development (RD) in April this year.

As per the RTI reply, between 2013-2022 financial, a total of Rs 3,40,43,744 crore have been sanctioned (for both wages and material cost) by the department for various work orders, such as upgradation of village road, construction of drainage, toilets, farm pond, irrigation channel, piggery farming etc, Rhakho informed.

‘Very surprisingly, lot of funds have been sanctioned for the development of the village, (but) these have been going to some few individual pockets without any concrete development,’ he alleged.

Within these funds, Rhakho claimed that a total amount of Rs 4,81,374 lakh under tied-fund (conditional) and Rs 20,99,160 lakh untied fund (unconditional) have been released by the government.

Additionally, a sum of Rs 20, 99,160 lakh have been provided by the government for general/women fund from 2015-2020, he added.

“We want to put up to the higher authorities to please cross-check as no such development exists within the village…no drainage system, no culvert, nor tree plantation or road development have been done in the village so far,” Rhakho asserted.

Besides, there was a charge of selling off of public land allegedly by unscrupulous individuals in connivance with the Village Council Chairperson (VCC) and the Head GB.

In particular, “they have sold plots of land of the Government Primary School to several purchasers,” stated Rhakho.
To this end, the students of GPS, Toulazouma organised a silent protest in April wherein they resolved that the size of the land would be 250/200 feet, he informed.

According to Rhakho, the two village leaders have ‘tendered their resignation’ knowing that they had “done a mistake.”
Furthermore, purported nexus between the government and the village council was implied, as Rhakho questioned, how document containing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for allotment of land for the school, could be misplaced within just 10-15 years time.

Today, we want to put up in the public domain that this is not for the interest of any individual, but in public interest and to safeguard public property, Rhakho maintained.

Villagers resolve
Meanwhile, the five frontal organisations, spearheading the issue, have adopted four resolutions regarding the issues after the public meeting on Saturday.

Among others, the meeting resolved that there exists no “Founder system” in the village’s history and termed any supportive documents made by the “self-styled founder” as outrageous.

Accordingly, the public “rejected and declared the word Founder as null and void.”

Voicing out against misuse of village funds and public properties, the public also resolved that “corrupted leaders and culprit will be solely responsible to repay all misused funds and properties.”

The public also unanimously resolved to dissolve the present village council members (VCMs) and Gaonburas (GBs) for “failing to act and uphold” the Nagaland village and Area Council Act 1978 and reconstitute new VCMs and GBs.

The public further resolved that the Administration should immediately setup “Audit committee to bring out the Village Audit report to the public without any bias.”

Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/toulazouma-villagers-allege-misuse-of-public-funds-property