Cabinet minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Monday said there is need for the Centre should send Governors who can speak the language that is spoken by the people of the state.
Speaking to reporters, Ampareen said she was happy that the issue was highlighted once again.
In 2018, Ampareen herself had staged a walkout as a mark of protest against the then Governor Ganga Prasad for delivering his address in Hindi.
“We need to make sure that Government of India knows the people of Meghalaya do not understand Hindi. In fact, we were having some difficulty following the language that was spoken even though the written speech was given to us,” she said.
She said, “This is important that we consistently inform and highlight to the government of India that we are non-Hindi speaking community.”
When asked, the East Shillong legislator said, “I respect the fact that the opposition raised the matter that’s it. You don’t have to support or not support.”
She also said that speaking in a specific language is not a matter of the cabinet when responding to a query as to why she did not raised objection on the issue in the cabinet.
“This is something which we anticipated will happen not necessary that it was discussed in the cabinet but there is a language barrier, the governor cannot speak any other language but Hindi and what was done was done,” she said.
Stating that roles changed, the cabinet minister said, “Just because Ampareen has gone to government but that does not mean the opposition shall not highlight it. We must be grateful that it was highlighted despite the fact that our roles in the government change and it is not unusual for the roles in government to change. It is not as if that I am in government so I should also rise, I have to maintain protocol but I am happy that it was again highlighted and Government of India should take note and that they should send Governors who would preferably speak the language that is spoken by the people.”