High attendance defeats office picketing call

Contrary to the past trends, the one-day office picketing called by 13 pro-ILP pressure groups on Friday, for the first time, evoked a subdued response in State Government offices in the capital.
The Secretariat functioned normally as attendance of the employees was largely satisfactory in comparison to previous occasions when office picketing was announced.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal said that the overall percentage of attendance in the district was around sixty per cent, the highest ever recorded attendance on a day of picketing.
Attendance in the Deputy Commissioner’s office touched 90 per cent while the attendance in the State Government offices near the Secretariat was around 78 per cent.
Officials of the State Government were at ease with the response of the Government employees who attended their duties on Friday.
However, the office picketing took its toll on Central Government offices as most of the offices including the General Post Office (GPO) remained shut throughout the day.
In addition, financial institutions and banks in the State capital also remained closed all through the day.
It may be mentioned that the pro-ILP pressure groups had called for a State-wide office picketing on Friday demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit to check the influx situation in the State.