Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa: Once upright IAS, now much criticised governor

GUWAHATI: Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa was known to be a no-nonsense bureaucrat during his service as an IAS officer (1968 batch) of the Assam-Meghalaya joint cadre.He retired as Assam chief secretary in 2004.

When he was sworn-in as Arunachal governor in July 2015, little did he know he'd be at the centre of a raging political battle and eventually face sharp criticism from SC.

The Congress now wants him dismissed. Rajkhowa is on leave on health grounds and Tripura governor Tathagata Roy is currently holding dual charge of both states.

Rajkhowa was at the receiving end when Congressmen slaughtered a mithun, a bovine, in Arunachal, outside the Raj Bhawan gates last December 17 to celebrate a legal victory in Gauhati HC.

When Rajkhowa advanced the assembly session, the decision which was quashed by the apex court on Wednesday, Con gress workers stopped him from going to the venue, a community centre and not the as sembly . The Speaker had locked it. Born in 1944 at Jorhat, Rajkhowa's first joined the IPS. During his training, he appeared for the civil services again and got selected.

A master's degree holder in economics with specialisation in industrial and agricultural economics, Rajkhowa earned praise for his teaching skills during a short stint as a high school teacher at Jorhat.

Early in his career as subdivisional officer in then Mizo Hills district (now Mizoram), Rajkhowa was behind building the first-ever motorable road from the Kaladan River at Lawngtlai to Saiha in 1970.