Meghalaya govt firm on decision to appoint Rao as CS; Don’t communalise issue: Tynsong
SHILLONG | Jan 14:
Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said that there is no question of the State Government going back on its decision of appointing senior IAS officer, M.S. Rao as the Chief Secretary.
"We are firm with our decision. We have appointed Rao after a proper scrutiny," Tynsong said while speaking to reporters here today.
When asked that a section of the NGOs are still demanding that another senior IAS officer of the State, Hector Marwein should be appointed to the post of the Chief Secretary, he said that he is also aware about such demand.
"But I am of the view that it is not right to communalise this issue. The responsibility to appoint the Chief Secretary should be left to the wisdom of the State Government. We know better who is the most capable officer to become the Chief Secretary of the State," Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister said.
Maintaining that Hector Marwein was not denied promotion, Tynsong said that he is equivalent to Chief Secretary.
Stating that the State Government cannot be a fool to break the rules and bypass the service rules be it the State or Central service rules, Tynsong added that Hector Marwein was upgraded to the Chief Secretary level when the decision was made to appoint MS Rao as the Chief Secretary.
When asked if the state can have two Chief Secretaries, he said that the State has so many DGs including DGP, DGP (Jails) and DGP (HOME Guards).
He also said that since Hector Marwein have moved the Tribunal; let the tribunal decide on the matter, said Tynsong.
It may be mentioned that several pressure groups in the state have expressed their opposition to the appointment of MS Rao as the chief secretary and have warned that they will persuade the state government to change its decision and appoint Hector Marwein as the chief secretary.
It may be mentioned that Rao superseded Marwein as the chief secretary of the state. This has irked Marwein who has petitioned the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. Rao is a 1987 batch IAS officer while Marwein belongs to the 1985 batch of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. T
The four organisations comprising of the Khasi Students' Union (KSU), Federation of Khasi Jaintia Garo People (FKJGP), Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) and Ri-Bhoi Youth Federation (RBYF) asserted that the action of the state government will dishearten many government employees as they feel that the state government should have given preference to a local considering Marwein's seniority.
