SHILLONG: The two-day office picketing called by the consortium of ten pro-ILP organisations had a tame end on Friday, with high attendance recorded in all the government offices in East Khasi Hills, East Jaintia Hills and West Jaintia Hills district.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal informed that the attendance in all the government offices in the district was a notch higher at around 55-60 per cent as compared to Thursday’s attendance of 54 per cent.
“The percentage of attendance has shown an improvement on Friday although in some offices the attendance was less at 20 per cent or so,” Goyal said.
Sources informed that attendance at the DC’s office on Friday was 70 per cent as compared to Thursday’s 20 per cent.
In East Jaintia Hills and West Jaintia Hills, the office picketing had no effect with a high turnout of employees in their respective offices. East Jaintia Hills recorded 95 per cent attendance while in West Jaintia Hills the figure stood at 85 per cent.
Things were, however, quite different in West Khasi Hills. The attendance in the entire district was a dismal 18 per cent with most of the offices remain shut for the day.
However, the DC’s office and the BDO’s office at Nongstoin recorded 70 per cent attendance.
Confusion over office functioning
There were confusions galore in Nongstoin over the functioning of the offices on Friday as people from far-flung areas of the district travelled to Nongstoin for official work only to find the offices closed because of the office picketing called by the pressure groups.
The confusions arose after some local dailies published reports stating that the attendance in Government offices in Nongstoin on Thursday was around 70-80 per cent.
Anticipating normal functioning, the people travelled all the way to Nongstoin to find the offices under lock.
Dismayed at the turn of events, a villager said, “I urge the press and the Government officials to publish accurate information regarding the attendance in the Government offices. For poor people like me who are daily wage earners, one day wasted means a big loss.”