Office picketing
SHILLONG: Even as the attendance across government offices in the State capital remained low in view of the office picketing called by pro-ILP groups on Thursday, the employee presence was relatively better than Tuesday as per the figure provided by East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal.
Government offices in the city registered 20-25 per cent attendance against 15 per cent during Tuesday’s picketing. Interestingly, as per the information provided by Chief Secretary WMS Pariat, the attendance in the government offices in Shillong ranged between 55-60 percent.
A sizeable number of employees attended office in the Secretariat. However, many of them were seen leaving shortly after 2 pm and the Secretariat wore a deserted look thereafter. The State Government had earlier issued warning to the employees to attend office during such agitation and taking note of the unscheduled leaves , the SAD Minister, Deborah Marak had decided to submit a report on the same to the Chief Minister.
Functioning of State and Central financial institutions was, however, completely stalled due to the picketing.
BDO office grace saver in Nongstoin
The office picketing was largely successful in Nongstoin where only seven per cent of the government employees attended duty. The State Bank of India along with the Post Office chose to keep their shutters down throughout the day causing a many an inconvenience to the local populace. The BDO office, however, conducted business as usual and unlike Tuesday, the NGO members were unsuccessful in forcing a shutdown due to the presence of police in the office complex.
Jowai defies pro-ILP diktat again
Despite the office picketing government offices functioned normally in Jowai. While the West Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner’s office registered 90 per cent employee turnout, the overall attendance in State-run offices in the district was over 75 per cent.
In East Jaintia Hills too the attendance was high in government offices. However, banks and central government offices chose to remain closed. (With inputs from our Nongstoin, Jowai correspondents)