Dibrugarh: Sivasagar DC office employees boycotted work on Friday, protesting alleged misbehaviour by MLA Akhil Gogoi with DC Mridul Yadav.Employees tied black cloth around their heads during the protest over the incident at an official meeting on Thursday, Aug 20. The confrontation, reportedly over alleged negligence in disbursing govt assistance to flood-hit families, was captured on camera.The footage shows Gogoi telling Yadav: “You may leave from here, but you will have to give my people the money. You cannot run this place by simply following ministers around.”The protest began at 10 am. Arabinda Gogoi, an employee of the DC’s office, said, “Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi misbehaved with the DC during a meeting held at the Sivasagar DC’s office. In protest against the incident, employees are staging a protest, wearing black cloth around their heads.”Speaking to reporters on his arrival at the office, Yadav said, “Everything is in the video footage. We are working strictly as per govt rules and policies. However, he misbehaved, intimidated us, and secretly recorded everything to hand it over to the media. That was not the way an honourable MLA should operate.”Yadav said permission was not granted to record the meeting and that he invited Gogoi to discuss the matter privately in his chamber, but the MLA did not accept the offer.He said flood relief operations remained the administration’s priority and appealed to the employees to resume work, warning that rehabilitation efforts and Direct Benefit Transfer grant disbursals could be disrupted. “I will request them to suspend their protest so that we can focus on relief work,” he said.
