Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary addresses the gathering at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Shillong, July 1: It was here in Meghalaya, way back in the Sixties, that he had learnt to face the adversities of life.

Today, nearly four decades later, Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary was sworn in as the governor of Meghalaya at a resplendent function at Raj Bhavan.

“It was here in Shillong, even before it became the capital of Meghalaya, that I spent a part of my formative years from 1961 to 1967, earning a livelihood and simultaneously pursuing studies in the night shift section of St Anthony’s College,” Mooshahary said.

“The years that I spent in Shillong were austere, yet promising. They taught me the lesson that hard work alone brings rewards. I was also reminded during my stay in Shillong that the uncertainties of human life and its transience have to be accepted. My father died at the Reid Chest Hospital in Shillong when we thought he was on the way to recovery,” he told guests at the swearing-in function at Raj Bhavan.

Mooshahary turned out to be the first matriculate and the first graduate from his village and also got into the IPS at the first attempt in 1967. He was the youngest officer in his batch.

The first governor from the Bodo community, Mooshahary was sworn in by the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Jasti Chelameswar.

In his address during the swearing-in ceremony, Mooshahary narrated tales of his childhood, which was full of hardship.

Hailing from the backward hamlet of Odlaguri, near Gossaigaon in Assam, Mooshahary was born of poor Bodo parents.

Later, speaking to mediapersons, Mooshahary said Meghalaya had huge potential in terms of development, provided the resources and funds meant for development were properly utilised.

The governor admitted that corruption was a big problem in the country and in the Northeast in particular.

“We are trapped in the whirlpool of corruption. We have to find a way out of it. I feel there is a need for an institutional arrangement to fight corruption,” Mooshahary said.

He said the Right to Information Act (RTI) was one way of fighting corruption.

The governor also termed the border problem between Assam and Meghalaya as unfortunate. “Assam and Meghalaya are neighbours, they have the same heritage and same history. I hope things will be sorted out,” Mooshahary added.