Dawhoi Langstang has been appointed as the next Chairman of the Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC), confirming fears from certain Garo Hills-based organisations that the post would once again go to a member of the Khasi-Pnar community.
The official notification of Langstang’s appointment was made on April 17 but not made public until today. However, it had already been leaked, which led to at least two Garo Hills groups criticising the decision to appoint a Chairperson from the Khasi-Pnar for the second time in succession.
Meanwhile, Bedarius Shylla, the in-charge MPSC Chairperson has been relieved of his function.
The last full time MPSC Chairperson was PR Marwein, who retired in January. Following Marwein’s superannuation, Babynna T Sangma took over as Acting Chairperson until she too retired at the end of February.
The state government recently appointed Shylla as the in-charge Chairperson while Aloysius Ch Marak, Lester Pathaw and Sanjive K Marak were members of the commission.
Since the inception of the MPSC, the Chairperson has been a member of the Khasi-Jaintia tribe on nine occasions (before Langstang) and a Garo seven times. Although it has never been codified, there was an in principle rotation between the Khasi-Pnar and Garo communities for the MPSC Chair.
