SHILLONG: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) on Wednesday demanded review of the State job reservation policy by the government.
Briefing reporters here, KHNAM general secretary Batkupar Wahlang said the Meghalaya Job Reservation Policy has been sidelined by the government for a long time.
The party claimed that eligible candidates will be deprived from serving under the State government if the Policy is not reviewed as it ‘hinders the academics arena’.
“In terms of reservation for studying medicine, engineering and others, a Khasi candidate with 70 per cent is being kept in the waiting list as compared to a Garo candidate who has secured only 36 or 40 per cent,” Wahlang said.
The policy needs to be reviewed according to the changing times, Wahlang pointed out, while recalling that during the late 90s when the government had conducted job interviews for the post of LDAs in the Secretariat, many eligible Khasi candidates who had been declared successful were put in the waiting list but because there were less number of Garo candidates among those who cleared the examination, a re-examination was conducted to fulfill the 40 per cent seats reserved for Garo candidates.
The KHNAM leader referred to RTI findings and claimed that the State reservation policy has not been reviewed even once by the State government since 1972.
The KHNAM leader also made it clear that their demand for review of the reservation policy should not be viewed from the communal angle as it was meant to instill the spirit of competition among the different tribes in Meghalaya.
The KHNAM also proposed a cut off percentage, explaining that if the candidates from a particular tribal community cannot fill also vacant seats reserved from them, the backlog should be passed on to the other communities for the sake of development of the State.
KHNAM vice president Adelbert Nongrum, while demanding the cut off percentage, said that if the same cannot be implemented then the State reservation policy should be done away with altogether so as to bring about an open competition.
KHNAM leaders also slammed the regional parties for not taking up the issue, arguing that none of the regional parties felt it necessary to examine the reservation policy while they were in power.
It may be mentioned that the job reservation policy was framed as per Clause 4 of Article 16 of the Constitution of India through a resolution passed by the State government in 1972.
As per the policy, 40 per cent of the jobs are reserved for the Khasi-Jaintia tribes, while another 40 per cent is meant for the Garo people.
