SHILLONG: Strange are the ways of Meghalaya bureaucrats who want to avoid the media to escape from answering crucial questions confronting the state.
When this reporter met an official of the rank of additional chief secretary (name withheld) at the Meghalaya Secretariat recently, he did not provide any information on his department’s initiatives, but said that he can provide a cup of tea and not any information. He also said that the DIPR will provide the necessary information, and continued to pay attention to a file without facing the questioner.
Another official, who is a Principal Secretary (name with held) pointed out to the accumulated files in his table to avoid meeting a media person. He further sat in a separate chair in his room browsing internet to avoid queries.
The result is that there is widening chasm between the media, government and its various departments including the police.
“We are busy in a meeting” is the usual reply coming from the Chief Secretary to the police higher ups whenever media persons want to meet them collectively for any crucial issue.
The Chief Secretary Barkos Warjri is yet to meet the media officially and collectively after his appointment in June 2014 though the last time he met a section of the media was when he commented that there was no rat hole mining in Jaintia Hills.
On several occasions, the request of media persons to meet him at his chamber to get feedback on crucial issues were turned down by the Chief Secretary.
However, the frequency of Warjri meeting the media was high when he was Additional Chief Secretary and there was no hurdle in meeting him as one could enter his room after knocking the door.
Besides the Chief Secretary, other senior government officials continue to ignore the media persons when they want to follow up certain reports.
The issue of barrier between the police and the media was recently communicated to a senior police official, but in vain as he has not made any commitment to improve the relations.
The police had earlier appointed a nameless Public Relations Officer who issues statements only on matters related to militancy.
However, after assuming charge, the newly appointed DGP Rajiv Mehta told news persons that he would appoint a senior police official to interact with the media.
The former Meghalaya Chief Secretary SK Tewari told The Shillong Times over phone that as the media is doing a public duty, there should be transparency on the part of the officials. “Media is doing a public duty, and everything should be open. Why the Government should be secretive at all, unless the issue is concerning the security of the state”, said Tewari who had welcomed the media anytime to his chamber during his tenure.
According to Tewari, during his career, he did not have any problem in sharing information with the media.
Giving another angle as the reason for denial of information, Tewari said that since some officers do not know the replies to the questions , they try to avoid the media or they do not want to reply since they do not t know what the government is thinking on a particular topic .
There is no reason why the officers should hide anything as the information is the public property, he added.
“Unless you inform the media, how will the people come to know about the various policies of the Government “, he said
According to Tewari, revealing things will be advantageous to the Government as the public reaction may correct the wrong course. “But running away from the media is running away from the people”, Tewari said.
The former Meghalaya DGP L. Sailo said that media is an important instrument for the Government, and hence, information should be disseminated to the media persons.
There should not be any problem for the higher ups to meet the media persons, and one can decide what can be told and what to be avoided. One danger is that people will speculate and form their own opinion if proper information is not disseminated to the media, he added.
