Shillong, June 6: More women ought to be employed in central government offices in Meghalaya although the current scenario is not as disappointing as in other states of the country.

This observation was made by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik who was recently appointed chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice.

Naik and his team landed here to hold consultations with stakeholders on issues relating to the Citizens’ Charter Bill, status of women in offices and infrastructure of subordinate courts.

While refusing to disclose the figures of women being employed in central government offices in the state, the Congress MP said: “The situation (of women not being employed in government offices) is not that serious compared to several other states in the country. But the scenario can always be improved. We stressed the importance of giving more representation to women in the offices.”

The committee had also sought to know about the status of women working in offices, facilities being offered to them and the prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace.

Pending the enactment of a bill that seeks to protect women from being sexually harassed at workplace, government offices are following Supreme Court guidelines in this regard, Naik said.

On the status of infrastructure of subordinate courts in the state, the Rajya Sabha MP refused to spell out anything. The committee had also discussed the issue of appointment of judges.

There are 12,000 cases reportedly pending in various courts in Meghalaya — a state which will soon have a separate high court.

Naik promised to take an initiative to ensure that Meghalaya gets a separate high court.

“I will personally take up the matter with the Union law minister as a state without a high court of its own will be incomplete,” he said.

On the Citizens’ Charter Bill, Naik said it would be a “revolutionary bill” to bring transparency in the functioning of the government.

“The bill envisages that all services and goods in government sector will be given to public on time. For instance, birth certificates, death certificates, ration cards, driving licences and other services should be provided on time to the citizen. If any official fails to provide the services within the specified time frame, disciplinary action, along with a fine, will be imposed against the official,” Naik said.

The feedback which was gathered through discussions with officials of the North Eastern Hill University, North East Electric Power Corporation Limited (Neepco) and the Meghalaya government, will form a part of the committee’s report to be presented before Parliament.

Coming here from West Bengal, the committee will be travelling to Guwahati tomorrow before visiting Imphal.