SHILLONG, MAR 23: Senior Congress leader Charles Pyngrope today asked the state government to do away with the “VIP culture” with regards to providing accommodation in the different Meghalaya Houses across the country.
“This (VIP culture) should be abolished and done away with,” Pyngrope said while moving a cut motion to discuss on the payment of contractual staff engaged for catering necessary services to VIPs and high officials, in the Assembly on Friday.
Stating that today the entire country is trying to get rid of VIP culture, he said but the state here is resorting to such measure to ask for supplementary demand for VIPs.
Expressing concern that the general population in most cases were deprived accommodation in these Houses,  the Nongthymmai legislator said this because rooms are earmarked for VIPs and high officials when the same rooms are lying vacant for months.
According to him, the objective of the Meghalaya Houses are used for multiple purposes and are not only to provide convenient places but also cheaper accommodation.
“I have seen parents sitting in the reception as rooms are not available for them when half of the rooms are empty,” he said while urging the government to ensure public are allowed to use the rooms especially those who need the most.
Also suggesting the government to increase the rooms in these houses, Pyngrope said that minister’s room are as bigger as three bedrooms adding such need to be converted into small rooms.
“Therefore I urge the government to avoid harassing the public by saying these rooms are booked as by allowing public to use them will not have any adverse effect,” he added.
In his reply, GAD Minister Comingone Ymbon said these Meghalaya Houses cater to the continuous flow of ministers, officers, students and other visitors and guests in connection with their official works, medical treatment and other private works.
Due to the heavy pressure of guests and visitor’s the management and maintenance of these Meghalaya Houses located in different parts of the country has always been a challenge for the department, he said.
He said that for the smooth running of these Houses,  government has put in place a fairly large establishing involving a number of senior officers, room bearers and attendants, cooks, chowkidars, Darwans, drivers for the vehicles of the various Meghalaya Houses and Security staff.
The minister also informed that in view of a variety of official works involving coordination with various ministries of government of India and other national and international agencies and organizations, in addition to the officials of the state, government has from time to time engaged officers on special duty, purely on contract appointment to assist the state government.
According to him, these OSDs help in various works including expediting clearance of various proposals from the state that have been submitted to the different central ministries.
In addition to this, he said in view of heavy pressures of works and also shortage of staff,  contract appointments have been made at lower levels in some of the Meghalaya houses, particularly in Delhi and also a few in the Meghalaya Houses of Kolkata, Mumbai, and Guwahati. This was very much required for maintaining cleanliness of the Meghalaya Houses and for providing round the clock services for ministers, senior officers, other visitors and guests, he added.
“In view of the circumstances, it has been necessary for the Meghalaya Houses to resort to contractual staff engaged for catering necessary services to VIPs and high officials visiting the Meghalaya Houses,” Ymbon said.
By Our Reporter
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