A senior gazetted woman officer of the Governor’s Secretariat in Meghalaya has approached the Meghalaya State Commission for Women (MSCW), alleging prolonged workplace harassment, institutional retaliation, denial of protections under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (PoSH Act), and threats to her safety. The officer, who says she has served the government for 36 years including 15 years at the Governor’s Secretariat, submitted a detailed representation to the MSCW on May 29; the matter is pending before the commission and the allegations have not been adjudicated.
In her representation the officer says the Governor’s Secretariat failed to maintain a legally mandated Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for more than three years, leaving her without a forum to pursue complaints. She alleges she filed 24 written complaints between February 2022 and May 2025 to senior officials, including Joint Secretary A. Lakiang and successive heads of the Secretariat, but that none were referred for inquiry or acted upon. According to the petition, the ICC ceased to exist in October 2022 and was not reconstituted until February 2026; she also says no ICC was ever constituted at Lok Bhavan, Tura, where she is currently posted.
Central to the complaint is Transfer Order No. 666 dated December 3, 2025, which transferred the officer from Shillong to Lok Bhavan, Tura while she was on sanctioned leave. The officer contends the transfer was unlawful, saying the establishment was officially renamed Lok Bhavan, Tura only after the order was issued and that no sanctioned post existed for her there. She adds that mandatory transfer notifications were not issued and describes the posting as retaliatory.
The officer says the transfer placed her at an isolated location about 12 km from Tura without adequate accommodation, transport or a functioning grievance redressal mechanism. She alleges several adverse actions followed her complaints, including an order expressing “strong displeasure,” withdrawal of her sanctioned house peon, pressure to vacate her official quarters in Shillong, repeated directions to stop correspondence about the ICC, and social isolation within the establishment. She states the house peon attached to her quarters was withdrawn in February 2026 without notice or inquiry while similar staff continued to be provided to other officers.
The representation further alleges colleagues and staff were discouraged from maintaining contact with her, resulting in social ostracism. The officer says the withdrawal of support facilities forced her to relocate her 89-year-old ailing mother from Shillong, a move she contends contributed to a decline in her mother’s health. Another grievance concerns a memorandum dated March 12, 2026, that declared her “absent/missing from headquarters without intimation”; the officer says she had informed authorities of her absence by email and that her leave was later formally sanctioned.
The petition also accuses authorities of repeatedly directing her to prepare proposals for constituting an ICC at Tura, a responsibility she says lies with the employer under the PoSH Act. She further alleges that despite informing senior officials, the Government of Meghalaya and the Governor about personal safety concerns since 2023, no protective measures were taken. In her petition to the MSCW she has sought an inquiry into all 24 complaints, immediate constitution of a lawful ICC at Tura, withdrawal of the transfer order, expunction of the absence memo, restoration of withdrawn facilities, protection for her official quarters, and safety measures for her and her family.
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/06/15/senior-woman-officer-alleges-harassment-seeks-mscw-probe/
Category: MEGHALAYA
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Publish Date: 2026-06-15 03:18:00
