From CK Nayak
New Delhi: The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly might have claimed that the Speaker Charles Pyngrope’s wife, Mrs SM Tellis, was appointed as ‘Special Assistant’ to the Speaker and is travelling as such but the communication with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) tells a different story.
One Hatty Cooper, Assistant Director of the CPA wrote on April 2nd to his colleague to arrange a tour for the Speaker and his ‘wife’ (Mrs Tellis) to Westminster Hall in London later this month. But on the same day the Assembly Secretariat sought political clearance for her as his ‘Special Assistant’.
While the CPA letter does not mention Mrs Tellis to be travelling as ‘Special Assistant’, the Assembly letter has no mention of her travelling as his ‘wife’.
While there is no apparent dispute over the status of Mrs Tellis vis-a-vis the Speaker there seems to be a difference on her ‘status’ when she is travelling with him which was the point of the news.
The Secretary, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly had refuted the news item ‘Speaker’s wife travels as Special Assistant”, in The Shillong Times on April 9. The Secretary clarified that Mrs Tellis, is functioning as ‘Special Assistant’ to the Speaker since November 1, 2010 after due appointment which is permissible in law.
The clarification further reiterates that appointment of wife or a close relative as personal assistant, private secretary and special assistant is usual even in the case of MPs as per entitlement.
But here again all the three sitting MPs from Meghalaya — Vincent H Pala, Agatha Sangma (Lok Sabha) and Thomas Sangma (Rajya Sabha) denied that any of them have appointed any of their close relatives as personal assistant/private secretary when contacted by The Shillong Times.
Even veteran politician from the State, Purno A Sangma, stated that neither he nor any MP from the State have, to his knowledge, appointed their wife or close relative as private secretary or special assistant in the past.
Purno Sangma remained MP for the longest term.
Incidentally, the controversy has not ended here. The Ministry of External Affairs has posed queries about the status of Mrs Tellis as far as political clearance is concerned which is required for travelling.
