Mizoram oppositions apologised for "false" TA bill

Aizawl, Sep 4 (UNI) Both Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) and Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) have made a sort of apology for claiming false travel entitlement without actually making trips by a group of opposition legislators.

ZNP's national executive committee has issued a resolution here today saying that its two legislators have given undertaking that they would no longer avail the free travel entitlement of legislators because of the public condemnation.

The resolution, however, said the party saw no wrong doing in following the practice that had been practised by the legislators for long before the latest exposure. It has also criticised the system that the ministers being given the free travel facility as well as ordinary TA and said both facilities should not be made available to them and others.

Praising the Right to Information Act, which brought about the revelation of the false TA bills, the party said the Centre had forced the state government to adopt the Act.

He said his party supports the new Act.

Meanwhile, MPCC president and opposition leader Lalthanhawla has also come out with a statement today and said the Congress was not going to try and justify itself on the issue of false free travel bills. ''If some rules had been bent by Congress legislators in availing the free travel facilities, I, as president of MPCC beg the forgiveness of the people of Mizoram and of the living God. In order to avoid any future occurrences of this type, I give the assurance that our party MLAs will take utmost care,'' Lalthanhawla said.

He also said while the Right to Information Act is being used for the purpose it was enacted, people should take care to see that this instrument is not used to create animosity between persons or that it is used for the purpose of vengeance. On the other, Former Legislators of Mizoram (FLAM) has also come out with a press release on the controversial issue saying the ZNP president Lalduhoma had his facts wrong when he said the free travel facility for legislators had been available from 1990 and said the correct year was 1991.

"Before 1991, no legislator had availed this facility since it was not there and not every legislator had availed the facility even after it was available as claimed by Lalduhoma,'' the FLAM release stated.

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