Shillong, June 22 : Legislators supporting the Meghalaya United Alliance and the NGOs in the state have criticised the appointment of R. Kothandaraman as principal secretary of the Assembly Secretariat, with a salary of Rs 75,000 per month, at a time when the state cabinet has advocated austerity measures.
The cabinet last week issued circulars to all the departments to adhere strictly to the austerity measures.
“We are surprised over the appointment of Kothandaraman as the principal secretary in the Assembly Secretariat, soon after Charles Pyngrope from the Congress was made Speaker,” said a legislator supporting the MPA.
They said the appointment was neither discussed in the cabinet nor followed the norms and rules of the Meghalaya Assembly.
The appointment appeared to be political, as Kothandaraman was closely associated with the Congress party, a UDP legislator said.
Kothandaraman is allegedly facing an inquiry for anti-government activities on a complaint filed by the governor of Nagaland.
where he was posted earlier. He was also chargesheeted for threatening the secretary general of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, P.D.T. Achary.
Pyngrope said though he was not aware of the cases, unless a person is convicted, he cannot be termed as a criminal.
Pyngrope also defended the appointment of Kothandaraman, saying that it was for efficient administration of the Assembly Secretariat.
However, the appointment of a person from outside the state has sparked resentment among the employees of the state Assembly Secretariat.
An official said while the previous Speaker Bindo Lanong could take on the administration of state Assembly Secretariat single-handedly with the active co-operation of the staff, “we do not understand the logic behind the appointment of Kothandaraman.”
Meanwhile, the Khasi Students’ Union and Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Peoples have decided to meet the Speaker on Monday to take up the matter.