SHILLONG, Jan 29: A signature campaign for revamping the “outdated” and “out of sync” State Reservation Policy on Saturday received an overwhelming response from the youth in the state capital.
Bari Pyngrope, an agriculture student, organised the campaign at the Mawkhar Taxi Stand.
She said the existing policy fails to offer equal distribution of opportunities among the three major tribes – Khasi, Jaintia and Garo – of the state. “The government should relook at the outdated policy and bring in necessary changes as the population has grown exponentially over the years,” she said.
The policy prescribes 40% seats for the Garo community and divides 40% between the Khasi and Jaintia people. The remaining 20% is distributed among the other Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
Pyngrope insisted the campaign is not against any community and is aimed at highlighting a problem being faced by the youths.
She said the response to the campaign was more than she had expected with North Shillong MLA, Adelbert Nongrum meeting her and discussing the issue.
Pyngrope rued the lack of political will and urged all the legislators to discuss the issue across the table. “The signatures prove that the reservation policy needs revamping. The policy cannot be changed overnight, but the youth are impatient as 50 years have passed,” she said.
She favoured 80% open reservation for all the three major tribes so that the more efficient and skilled candidates get jobs.
Researcher and writer Avner Pariat, who visited the signature campaign venue, said: “This is an old issue that requires a lot of thinking as things cannot happen overnight. We need more seats and the reservation needs to be expanded but we also need to think about the sort of jobs people will get.”
He said there is a lot of anxiety amongst the people about employment in the private sector, where the reservation does not work.
“Of greater concern is the lack of opportunities and this is what the campaign is about. It is a start for thinking and expanding our ideas,” he added.