SHILLONG, June 14: The Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW) has expressed shock over the unceremonious removal of Chairperson of the Commission, Phidalia Toi by Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh. Members of the Commission had met on Tuesday to deliberate on the matter.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, MSWC said this removal announced by the minister during a press conference was done in contravention of the tenets of the Meghalaya State Commission for Women Act, 2005.
“The minister concerned had received inaccurate information that ‘the Chairperson had been absent from 3 out of 4 meetings of the Commission’. As a matter of fact, all the board meetings of the MSCW have been chaired by the Chairperson (Phidalia Toi),” the statement said.
It further stated that the relevant minutes of the meetings and all records thereof are documented and filed in the office of the Commission.
MSCW said as per Chapter II Section 4 (3) of the Act “….no person shall be removed under this sub-section until that person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter”.
“It must be noted that the Chairperson found about her removal from the Chair via news channels circulated in social media. She was never given notice of the charges made against her or an opportunity to be heard, as mandated by the law. It is incumbent of the minister to check the relevant records available at the office of the Commission before stating incorrect facts publically questioning the credibility of the chairperson & the office,” the Commission stated.
“What grieves the commission is that the chairperson, vice-chairperson and members of the Commission had sent a letter to the minister concerned on April 20 and again on May 29 requesting to meet him in order to discuss matters of the office. However, the office of the minister did not accept the request for a meeting,” it said.
The statement pointed out that the office of the Commission, being an important constitutional body to look into matters of women rights, as stated by the minister himself, is shocked that women are being removed from official duties in a whimsical manner with no regard to the rule of law.
According to the commission, if this is the plight of a woman chairperson then it cannot imagine what the hardworking women workforce of the state must be facing on a daily basis.
“For this and many gender biases that women face, our women workforce rate remains dismal in the state and country,” it added.
