Meghalaya govt to go ahead with coal auctioning: CM Conrad Sangma

SHILLONG:

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday informed that the State Government is going ahead with the auctioning of coal, "at least in the depot where the stock of coal is available".

"We just had a meeting with the NGT (National Green Tribunal) sometime back. We had deliberated on the issue of the minimum price of the coal," Sangma said.

He further informed that coal miners and the owners would be losing out because the rate at which Coal India Limited (CIL) had approved was very low.

"But now, the NGT has given a ruling and they have increased (the) minimum based prices which we had wanted," the Chief Minister added.

Furthermore, Sangma said they will be going ahead with the auctioning in the depot where stock is available, following approval from the NGT.

CM ON THE DELAY OF PAYMENT OF SALARIES TO GHADC EMPLOYEES

The Meghalaya Chief Minister said that the delay in the payment of salaries is due to liabilities that had accumulated over the years.

"In fact, if you look at the records, during the time period when the NPP took over we have been able to clear (the) salaries compared to (the situation) before we took over. It is an important issue and we are trying our best to resolve this problem," Sangma said.