IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, Jan 26: Alleging Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan of depraving the decorum of the Raj Bhavan, over 80 employees have sent a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding his immediate removal.
‘In a five-page letter, employees have alleged that “his activities (have) hurt the decorum and prestige of the Raj Bhavan as well as sentiments of the Raj Bhavan employees.” The “activities,” as mentioned in the letter, include “seriously compromis(ing) the dignity” of Raj Bhavan, converting it into a “young ladies’ club”, causing severe humiliation, mental stress and torture” to employees’ reported The Indian Express.
“The worst problem is that the Raj Bhavan has now under this Governor become a place where young ladies come and go at will with direct orders from the Governor. The security of the Governor’s house is also being seriously compromised,” alleges the letter according to the English daily.
Shanmuganathan, 68, a veteran RSS (Rashtriya SwayamSevak Sangh) activist from Tamil Nadu, joined as Governor of Meghalaya on May 20, 2015. Presently, he has also the additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh from September 16, 2016 after JP Rajkhowa was removed.
According to some media reports, one of the candidates for the post of PRO at Raj Bhavan has alleged that the governor had made inappropriate advances during an interview for the job in early December last year.
‘The victim alleged that the Governor had a personal interview with her on the night of December 8 for the post of public relations officer and made “inappropriate advances” after he personally called her to attend the interview,’ says The Shillong Times.
However, the Governor has denied all allegations.
“I wanted to meet them (the job aspirants) before finalising the candidates and they all came. Everyone was there for half an hour. I have got great respect for everyone. I have not done anything wrong,” The Shillong Times has quoted Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan as saying.
He further said: “No it is not right. All these things are not right. We have selected only one person and some people were not selected and because they were not selected they should not say all these things.”
The Governor, who spoke to the media in a tele-conference on Tuesday said though the interview was conducted in the past for the job, he did not do anything wrong. “They are like my daughters and granddaughters.”
Meanwhile, ‘Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR)’, an NGO, has called for an independent inquiry into the incident and said it would approach the President’s office in this matter.
“At a time when sexual harassment at workplaces is a frightening reality, we cannot brush aside allegations of inappropriate behaviour as being gestures of friendliness and expressions of innocent affection,” TUR was quoted as saying by The Shillong Times.
