Itanagar: The retired civil servant Joyti Prasad Rajkhowa was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh at aglittering function held at Darbar Hall in Rajbhawan here on Monday. Chief Justice of Guahati High Court (acting), Justice K. SreedharRao administered the oath to the newly-appointed Governor inpresence of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and his cabinet colleagues, former chief minister Gegong Apang, chief secretary, parliamentary secretaries, MLAs, opposition leaders, DGP high ranking government officials and other dignataries. A retired IAS officer of 1968 batch, Rajkhowa, who was the chief secretary of Assam, retired from his office, read out the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi.
He did his MA in Economics from the prestigious Delhi School of Economics after finishing his schooling from Jorhat Government HighSchool in Assam.
Rajkhowa has admitted high corruption in the state and called for concerted efforts to root out the menace. “Corruption in the state is high and the state government and civil societies should put concerted efforts to root it out,” Rajkhowa told reporters after swearing-in as the 19th governor of the state. Corruption is a “chronic disease” in all the states of the country but the magnitude is more in Arunachal Pradesh. On the decades-old border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Rajkhowa, a former chief secretary of Assam, said they were created by people with vested interest but those living in inter-state border areas always live peacefully and have family relations.
He also stressed on the need to improve education in the state and added that the literacy rate was below average. The new governor urged people to strive hard in education and to raise their standard of living. (PTI/UNI)
