E.K. Mawlong

Evansius Kek Mawlong (1 February 1946 – 18 October 2008) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 8 March 2000, until 8 December 2001. He was the main architect and founding president of the United Democratic Party in Meghalaya.

Early life E.K. Mawlong was born on 1 February 1946, in Mawmih village, East Khasi Hills District, in present-day Meghalaya. He earned his Bachelor of Science from St. Anthony's College, Shillong in 1969.

Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mawlong became the Chief Minister of Meghalaya on 8 March 2000. He was unanimously elected by the Legislature Party to replace then incumbent and fellow party member, B. B. Lyngdoh. His 18-month tenure was embroiled in a scandal stemming from the construction of Meghalaya House in Kolkata. To clear his name from the corruption allegations, Mawlong filed a Writ Petition in the Shillong Bench of the Gauhati High Court.

On 28 January 2008, the Guwahati High Court cleared Mawlong of wrongdoing in the Meghalaya House scandal.

However, Mawlong ran for his old Umroi constituency in Ri Bhoi district in the February 2008 legislative election. This was the first ever case of a former Chief Minister in independent India being laid to rest without State honors. He was given a simple burial, amidst presence of thousands of well wishers, in Mawprem Catholic cemetery. He also took initiatives to kickstart the processes for construction of the National Highway Shillong By Pass, Myntdu-Leshka Hydel Project and the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Medical Sciences.

As Minister in charge of the Law Department in 1990 to 1991 he mooted the idea of creating a separate High Court for Meghalaya. He fervently followed up this initiation as Chief Minister with Arun Jaitley the then Union Law Minister. The Meghalaya High Court was finally inaugurated in 2013. His pet project as Chief Minister was the road linkage from Lad Umroi and Mawlasnai to Diphu in Assam with financial assistance from the North Eastern Council, which gave a lifeline to the people living in the disputed Block II area.

As Minister in charge of the General Administration Department (GAD) from 1990 to 1991, he met the then Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, to seek a plot of land in Kolkata for construction of the second Meghalaya House. Basu introduced him to Buddhadeb Bhattarcharya and Meghalaya was allotted a plot of land in Shantipally, East Kolkata near Rash Behari Area, where the second Meghalaya House now stands. However, when his Government took steps to construct a new building to replace the dilapidated Meghalaya House in Russell Street, Kolkata he was accused of corruption and due to massive political and social turmoil, he had to step down as Chief Minister.

As Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly from 1983 to 1988, he met the then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr. Manmohan Singh seeking financial assistance for the setting up of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly printing press. After thorough deliberations, Dr. Manmohan Singh sanctioned the funds required for the setting up of the printing press. The press serves till this day for printing numerous documents required by the Meghalaya Assembly Secretariat. It was during his tenure as Speaker, that Meghalaya hosted the SAARC Ministerial Meet in Shillong in 1986 which was a huge success. The Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi inaugurated the session.

Other activities E.K. Mawlong was the longest serving President of the Catholic Association in the Khasi Jaiñtia Hills of Meghalaya. He had served the Catholic Association for 17 years till the year 2005 when he voluntarily gave up the post for health reasons. His effort in arranging the visit of Pope John Paul II to Shillong, is fondly remembered. He stayed in New Delhi for two long weeks in order to convince the Ministry of Home Affairs to clear the Papal visit. After a hard-fought debate with its officials, Mawlong convinced the Ministry of Home Affairs to allow the Pope to visit Shillong. Pope John Paul II was allowed to visit Shillong on 4 February 1986 for only three hours due to security concerns.

Mawlong was also the President of the Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank Employees Union for 25 years. He had held the post till his demise in 2008.

Personal life E.K. Mawlong married Angelina Riazida Lyngdoh in 1978. They had four sons and two daughters.

Awards

National Citizen's Award in the year 2001 Best Citizen of India awarded by the International Publishing House, New Delhi in the year 2000 Manav Sewa Purashkar awarded by the Institute of Economic Studies in the year 1998 Bharat Jyoti Award in the year 2008