SHILLONG, Dec 4: Voice of the People Party (VPP) president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit on Sunday said he does not subscribe to the demand for creation of a separate Khasi-Jaintia state as spearheaded by his former party, the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP).
Basaiawmoit, a former president of the HSPDP, said a separate Khasi-Jaintia state would not be able to solve the existing problems. The VPP believes in facing the problems and finding solutions rather than pushing for a separate state, he said.
Basaiawmoit also pointed out that the VPP was not in favour of the demand for bifurcation of the joint cadre of Meghalaya and Assam.
The demand for a separate IAS/IPS stems from the failure to resolve the long-pending border dispute but an IAS or IPS officer will not dare challenge their “political boss”.
“Any senior officer will always have to be in tune with the stand of their masters. Therefore, we are not going to gain anything with a separate cadre,” the VPP president observed.
“Another disadvantage is that we will have limited scope in terms of the pool of IAS and IPS officers since the strength of the cadre will fall sharply as a result of a bifurcation. Therefore, it would be better to have a larger pool of joint cadre instead of a smaller one,” he added.
“The interstate border issue remains unresolved not because of the joint cadre but due to the lack of political will,” the VPP president said.
He also mentioned that a joint cadre should not be a problem for Meghalaya since other states like Manipur & Tripura and even Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT) have joint cadres.
Asked about the demand for review of the State Reservation Policy, Basaiawmoit said the demand for a review of the present quota system would be a part of the VPP manifesto for the upcoming Assembly polls.
He said the VPP would recommend the constitution of an expert committee for an in-depth study of the reservation policy. The expert committee will point out the defects in the existing policy and suggest necessary remedies. “The review of the reservation policy should cater to the interest of the indigenous people of the state,” he said.
Talking about the upcoming Assembly elections, the VPP chief said the first list of party candidates would be announced shortly.
The party, which is making its electoral debut in the state, may not contest in all the 36 seats in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region.
“We only have Adelbert Nongrum, the sitting KHNAM MLA from North Shillong, who will be contesting from the party,” Basaiawmoit said.
“We will field candidates only if find good ones,” he said, while adding that the party was yet to fix the number of seats it is targeting.
