Defence min asked to look into plea for withdrawal of Lady Keane notice

SHILLONG, Sep 23: BJP leader and former union minister Jual Orum has asked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to look into the request for withdrawal of the notice issued by the Chief Executive Officer of Shillong Cantonment Board (SCB) to Lady Keane College for payment of provisional service charges.
In a letter to the defence minister on Friday, Oram, while enclosing party MLA from Meghalaya AL Hek’s letter over the matter, said that the notice was issued even though the college does not make use any cantonment services such as water, electricity, etc.
“I would urge upon you to personally look into the matter and do the needful in this regard at the earliest,” Oram said.
The former union minister also informed that he is very well acquainted with the principal of Lady Keane College, Shillong.
It may be mentioned that Hek on Wednesday had called on Union Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Ajay Bhatt, urging him to direct the CEO of the Shillong Cantonment Board (SCB) to withdraw its letter to Lady Keane College.
Hek, accompanied by Principal of the college D Khlur Mukhim, also urged the Union MoS to instruct the SCB to refrain from issuing such letters in future.
According to Hek, the Union MoS is said to have assured to take up the matter with the Ministry.
It may be recalled that the Board’s CEO Vijay Rajak had written a letter to the College in August, asking it to pay Rs 45,25,956 as provisional service charges which has been calculated for the period w.e.f. 1.4.2022 to 31.3.2023.