By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The State Government’s decision to declare Saturday (September 7) as a working day turned out to be a futile exercise as the attendance in almost all the Government offices took a beating due to the office picketing call by pro-ILP groups.
Government declared Saturday as a working day to compensate the loss of Monday when attendance in the Government offices was thin due to the bandh called by NGOs demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in the State.
However, the situation did not look up even on Saturday since the attendance in all Government offices remained negligible and only few employees were seen in some offices.
The Secretariat wore a deserted look and shutters of banks and other financial institutions were down on Saturday.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal informed that attendance in Government offices was between 15 to 20 per cent.
When contacted, Principal Secretary of Home Department KS Kropha informed that the attendance of employees in Shillong was 50 per cent while the attendance in other districts was way better.
Our Jowai correspondent adds: In East and West Jaintia Hills districts picketing affected normal functioning of Government offices and financial institutions.
Almost all the State Government offices remained closed except DC’s office, PWD, PHE.
Overall official attendance in West Jaintia Hills and East Jaintia Hills recorded more than 65 per cent.
