Shillong, July 23 (IANS): The Meghalaya Chief Minister's Office was one of the least functioning offices in the state due to the regular absence of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, Independent legislator Saleng Sangma said Wednesday.
The legislator met Governor Krishan Kant Paul and sought his intervention on Mukul Sangma's regular absence from office amid the prevailing turmoil in the insurgency-hit Garo Hills region.
"He (Mukul Sangma) went to Brazil at a time when the law and order situation in Garo Hills is so bad... The chief minister seems not to be worried at all about the plight of the people as most of the time he is travelling...."
"This unhealthy work culture which is alien to the people of the state or the country has affected the smooth functioning of the government in carrying out various tasks especially those related to the rural areas of the state," Saleng Sangma said in his missive to the governor.
Saleng Sangma, who was former community and rural development minister in the previous Mukul Sangma cabinet, also expressed surprise that political leaders and NGOs were not raising the issue of the chief minister's "unhealthy work culture".
"Going by the facts of the issue, it would not be out of place to describe Mukul Sangma as an 'absentee chief Minister'. If the head of the government continues to play truant, it would not be difficult to imagine the state of affairs and the work culture in the state secretariat and elsewhere," he said.
Saleng Sangma also threatened to move the central government if the governor does not pay heed to his complaint.
When IANS tried to contact Mukul Sangma for his comment, he did not pick up his phone.
A senior official at the Chief Minister's Office also refused to comment on the issue.