There was a mixed response to the office picketing called by the Hill State People Democratic Party (HSPDP) in the state demanding the state government to resolve the imbroglio that had arisen out the Meghalaya High Court ruling which prohibits headmen from issuing any kind of NOCs.
The Opposition HSPDP having four legislators in the House of 60 is sponsoring the one-week office picketing in view of the government's failure to intimate on the steps taken to resolve the current stalemate and demanded the passage of the Village Administration Bill, 2014 and to come up with a law to empower the traditional institutions and traditional village chiefs in the state.
While the picketing failed to evoke responses from the state government employees who attended office normally, banks and central government offices were affected in the state capital, a home department official said.
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"Functioning of offices in the district was normal and attendance was recorded at 93 per cent," East Khasi Hills District deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal said.
Similarly in East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills, Ri Bhoi and West and South West Khasi Hills district in the Khasi Hills region, the functioning of government offices was also normal with good attendance.
West Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner P S Dkhar said the picketing did not affect the functioning of the government and businesses and added that even the national banks and other offices remain opened throughout the day.
In the state capital, additional security has been deployed in the state capital to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order, East Khasi Hills district SP M Kharkrang said.
Meanwhile, the sit-in demonstration of over 12 organizations here passed off peacefully with no untoward incident except minor skirmishes when they took out a rally at the end of their first phase of agitation.
Frontal pressure organizations in the state including the Khasi Students Union, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People and 11 other organizations demanded the government's unconditional release of arrested KSU chief Daniel Khyriem.
Khyriem was the first leader of the pro-Inner Line Permit organizations in the state to have been arrested on charges of destroying properties worth several crores of rupees during the group's three month-long agitation in the second half of 2013.
