RTI finding
SHILLONG: The appointment of indigenous staff is negligible in Meghalaya Raj Bhjavan compared to others, an RTI document reveals.
While the number of non-indigenous staff working in Raj Bhavan is 98, the number of indigenous staff is 40, according to the reply from Governor’s Secretariat to an RTI query by Agnes Kharshiing.
Though the salary of the staff is paid from the state funds except one or two deputed from Assam Rifles, the RTI reply says that the appointment of staff of Raj Bhavan is a prerogative of the Governor.
Moreover, the Raj Bhavan does not have any important official records before 2003 due to a fire incident that year.
“Gazette notification of State Acts as and when notified are received in the Governor’s Secretariat. However, the records prior to 2003 are not available due to fire incident in 2003”, the Public Information officer of Raj Bhavan KG Choudhury said.
The matter related to the State Acts was referred to the law department for appropriate action as the department is the custodian of all the State Acts, he said.
In reply to a query, the Governor’s Secretariat said that since records were destroyed during the fire incident in 2003, the names and other details of the Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries are available only from 2003.