SHILLONG: Hours after KSU members protested against the appointment of two non-tribals to the government during the anti-CAB rally on Wednesday, Vijay Raj resigned from the post of vice-chairman of Programme Implementation and Monitoring Committee.
Raj, whose appointment came under fire from pressure groups after the CAB issue came to the fore, sent a letter to the Chief Minister on Wednesday informing about his decision to step down.
The pressure groups had resented his appointment as they claimed that Raj was associated with the Non-Tribal Youth Union.
“It seems that my appointment as the vice-chairman is being opposed by some NGOs stating that I was the president of Non-Tribal Youth Union (NTYU) but in spite of my clarification that I never was the president of NTYU, the NGOs have been continuing their opposition against my appointment which in my opinion is hampering the state function,” Raj said in his resignation letter.
During the rally against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, KSU president Lambokstarwell Marngar referred to the appointment of Pawan Sharma, the vice-chairman of Meghalaya Commission on Resource Mobilisation and Raj to government posts. He called them enemies of the tribal community.
While Sharma is a former leader of NTYU, Raj had refuted the allegations of having ties with the group.
“The state government should immediately remove them (Sharma and Raj) and if not, the union will resort to another course of action. If nothing is done to remove them, those who have appointed them will take the responsibility if any untoward incident takes place,” Marngar said at the rally.
According to him, if the state government sees no one fit to take over the post from among the politicians, then it can approach the employment exchange to look out for unemployed youth.