Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday rejected VPP president and Nongkrem MLA Ardent Basaiawmoit’s allegation that the government had denied ex-gratia to the families of five victims of a workplace accident in Shillong.
Replying to Basaiawmoit’s call attention notice in the Assembly, Sangma said assistance had already been provided to the families from the Chief Minister’s Special Grant (CMSG).
“Ex-gratia has been released to these families not from the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) but from the Chief Minister’s Special Grant. So to say ex-gratia has not been given is incorrect,” he said.
Sangma said the SDMF could not be used for the incident as ex-gratia under the fund is restricted to natural disasters covered under the State Disaster Response Fund framework.
However, he said the CMSG gives the Chief Minister some discretion to provide assistance depending on the circumstances.
Sangma said the government had deliberately chosen not to publicise the assistance.
“Our principle is very clear…we act more, we talk less,” he said, adding that the families were supported “without making a noise, without going public, without making a social media reel.”
He said the government was also cautious about setting a precedent where every accident could lead to expectations of financial assistance from the CMSG.
“It is very sensitive and complicated, because once we start a precedent of supporting accidents, it becomes a norm and an entitlement where any accident leads to expectation that CMSG will be used,” Sangma said.
He added that the assistance may not have come to public attention because the government did not want to “make a big deal out of it”.
Responding to the Chief Minister, Basaiawmoit said the issue was raised based on media reports and not for publicity.
“As responsible members, we took up the issue based on media reports. It is not that we want to talk more and work less,” he said.
