RV Suchiang takes over as new Meghalaya chief secretary

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 30, 2021

Rebecca Venessa Suchiang on Thursday took over as new chief secretary of Meghalaya.

Suchiang, a 1989 batch IAS officer, became the first Khasi indigenous woman to occupy the top post as she replaced MS Rao of the 1987 batch, who retired today.

Rao also felicitated her in presence of the IAS fraternity.

“I am happy, I am blessed and I am honored to be able to take over the chair of the chief secretary,” Suchiang told reporters.

She also expressed confidence that there will be many more women after her who would serve the state in the capacity of a chief secretary.   

Admitting that it is a challenging task ahead, the senior IAS officer said, “I am not saying everything will be alright but with the help of my team of officers and guidance of the Chief Minister and Ministers, I am sure I will be able to march ahead.”

Spelling out her priorities, Suchiang said that she is committed to improve the education sector, performance grading index (PGI) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) ranking of the state, which according to her at the moment are still “very low”.

With the ongoing battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, she said that she would push the agenda for more expenditure in order to improve on the human capital.

Suchiang, who is also holding charge as MeECL chairman cum managing director, further expressed her commitment to bring in much needed reforms in the MeECL.

“Reforming the MeECL is what I am looking forward to,” she said while asserting “there is need to clear stalled power projects and with time put in a mechanism to ensure there is no cost overrun and no time overrun so that projects are implemented in time.”