The controversy over the appointment of an MCS cadre officer as in-charge Director of Handlooms & Textiles intensified with the Handloom and Textile Employees Union, Manipur, reiterating its demand for a technically qualified officer to head the Directorate.
Addressing a press conference at Manipur Press Club, Union representative Chingtam Luwang said the government had not responded to the demand for appointing a technical officer despite repeated representations. He questioned the rationale behind posting an IAS or MCS cadre officer to head a department with specialised technical functions.
Chingtam Luwang said the objection was not intended to protect any particular incumbent but to safeguard the Directorate and its technical character.
The Union’s renewed stand also comes amid competing claims over the functioning of the Powerloom Estate at Lamboikhongnangkhong. It was alleged that the estate’s transformer had remained defunct for about three years and that the facility was facing closure due to alleged administrative neglect.
Responding to the allegations, OSD L. Bobocha said the claims were made without adequate information and maintained that the transformer was functional and in use. He said electricity had recently been purchased for the facility and rejected the allegation that the estate had remained without power for three years.
Bobocha also questioned whether the persons who raised the allegations were among the 41 entrepreneurs listed for the estate, saying no entrepreneur or representative of the entrepreneurs’ organisation had approached him regarding the issue.
Rejecting claims that the department had failed to undertake productive work, he cited the production of curtains and national flags by the department as examples of its activities. He appealed against making allegations without verifying the facts.