Over 80 employess of the Shillong Raj Bhavan have written a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office and to the Rashtrapati Bhavan alleging that Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan has turned the Raj Bhavan into a “young ladies’ club”.
Outlookindia is in possession of the five-page letter written by the Raj Bhavan staff members.
In the letter, the 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.”
They wrote,“He is rude, arrogant, temperamental, and untruthful. Above all, he has seriously compromised the dignity of the Raj Bhavan and unfortunately made the Raj Bhavan into a “Young Ladies Club”.
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The employees, including officers and peons, have complained about going through severe humiliation, mental stress and torture.
The letter reads,"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.”
Here is the complete letter:
A few days ago, a local newspaper Highland Post reported that the Governor molested a lady, who had come for an interview to the Raj Bhavan for the post of Public Relation Officer on December 8.
She was called for the interview despite no vacancy. Subsequently, Shanmuganathan hugged and kissed her and offered her a part-time job in the Raj Bhavan.
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The Shillong Times quoted the Governor denying the allegations and saying that woman employees of Raj Bhavan were like his “daughters and grand-daughters.”
Shanmugathan said they selected only one person and the people who were not selected are levelling false accusations.
On Thursday, various activists and citizens gathered in front of the Raj Bhavan demanding the removal of the Governor. They are running a citizen signature campaign.
Speaking to Outlookindia, Angela Rangad, founding member of Thma U Rangli (TUR),said," We are protesting outside Raj Bhavan demanding the removal of the current Governor V Shanmuganathan through a signature campaign, which will continue for next few days.”
We also got access to the letter written to the President of India by the citizens of Meghalaya.
We the citizens of Meghalaya are shocked at the various media reports about the ‘inappropriate’ behaviour by our Governor towards women job applicants as well as abuse of his official constitutional position.
In this age where Sexual Harassment cannot be excused, these allegations need to be investigated independently while ensuring anonymity of the complainants.
We also appeal to you to ensure that Mr. V Shanmuganathan steps downwhile this investigation is completed.
Sir, as the Head of our Republic we look towards you for your intervention into such actions by a person which endangers the reputation of Constitutional values of our republic.
