Rs 2 crore investment in fish production goes for a toss

Newmai News Network
Shillong, May 19: An investment of Rs 2 crores which was made to enhance fish production in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya has yielded absolutely no results with even the fingerlings which were present in the ponds now having disappeared.
This matter was brought to light on Tuesday during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which discussed the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the year ending on March 31, 2016 wherein this wasteful expenditure was highlighted.
In this regard, PAC chairman Charles Pyngrope said that an unfruitful expenditure of Rs 2 crore was incurred by the Fisheries department on a project which was executed by the MeECL. Informing that there was a decision by the Agriculture department to hand over this project through an agency for execution to MeECL without the knowledge of the fisheries department, he said, “The project was to augment the fishery ponds and hatcheries at Umsning with an already existing 30 lakh fingerlings per annum under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) scheme. The department thought that by sanctioning Rs 2 crore they would augment the production of fish to 50 lakhs but even the 30 lakh fingerlings are no longer there which is of great concern.”
“The fact is we have lost what we were producing. Therefore, we called the respective departments on what could be done to salvage this in order to ensure that the unfruitful expenditure would eventually become fruitful,” he said.
Terming the matter as serious, PAC member Himalaya Shangpliang said, “In this lockdown when we are all looking at self-sufficiency and be self -reliant in the production of fish in the state, we have come across this situation where even the fingerlings existing in the ponds have vanished.”
Informing that the PAC will take this matter very seriously, he explained that surprisingly the Fisheries department was not aware of this whole project executed by the MeECL until 98 percent of the work was completed. Meanwhile, the committee has decided to conduct a spot inspection on May 26 of the ponds at Umsning. “The committee would like to see for itself the condition of the ponds that have been washed away and damaged and we will decide on the future course of action to be taken up,” Shangpliang added.