Meghalaya Raj Bhavan staffers write to Narendra Modi and Pranab Mukherjee: Key excerpts

Nearly 100 members of the Meghalaya Raj Bhavan wrote an extended letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining of the former Meghalaya governor V Shanmuganathan turning the governor’s office into a “young ladies club” and compromising the “dignity” of the office of the governor. Shanmuganthan has resigned from his post after the allegations came to light.

The five-page letter was recently shared by The Voice of Sikkim on its Facebook account. Apart from the letter written to Prime Minister Modi where the employees spoke of the extravagant life of the governor as well as his lack of faith in the employees, the news media organisation also posted the one-page letter that was sent to President Pranab Mukherjee.

The employees demanded their intervention to remove the governor and restore the dignity of Raj Bhavan.

“He (Shanmuganathan) has seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhavan and made it a ‘young ladies club’. It has become a place where young ladies come and go at will on direct orders of the governor… Many of them have direct access to his bedroom,” they alleged.

The employees claimed that security of the governor’s house has also been compromised.

The 11 point-letter stated the governor has “appointed two public relations officers, a cook and a nurse on night duty, all of whom are women”.

The staff alleged that the governor “selected only girls” to work for him and shifted the male official private secretary to his secretariat.

Shanmuganathan, who took over as the Governor of Meghalaya in May 2015, also holds the position of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, whose additional charge he holds since November last year following the removal of Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa.

While he has resigned as the Governor of Meghalaya, there is no clarity on if he will resign from the post of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh as well.

Women activists had begun a signature campaign here seeking Shanmuganathan’s removal. The campaign, spearheaded by women-led Civil Society Women Organisation (CSWO) and Thma U Rangli (TUR), was launched following reports of inappropriate behaviour by the governor.

A woman job aspirant had also accused the governor of making advances when she was appeared for an interview at the Raj Bhavan.

You can read it here:

Here’s a copy of the letter that was sent to Mukherjee:

With inputs from PTI