SHILLONG, April 4: The state government’s move to “retrospectively” use the Meghalaya State Reservation Policy to implement the roster reservation system is snowballing into a major controversy with the government now finding itself cornered by the VPP and the KSU who claim that the roster system is flawed since it is detrimental to job seekers from the Khasi and Jaintia communities.
The Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Tuesday decided to petition Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the contentious matter pertaining to the issue of the implementation of the roster system and the state job reservation policy in the light of the Meghalaya High Court’s order dated April 3, 2023.
The party took the decision during its central executive committee (CEC) meeting here.
The Court had observed that the cut-off retrospective date for implementation of the roster reservation system in Meghalaya was a policy matter that is best left to the Legislature and the Executive.
The Court made the observation while dismissing a PIL without going into the merits of the matter pertaining to the roster system for reserved seats in the state. The PIL was filed by one Greneth M. Sangma, vice president of A•chik Conscious Holistically Integrated Krima (ACHIK).
VPP spokesperson, Batskhem Myrboh said that the party has decided to organise public meetings in the different district/sub-division headquarters to enlighten the public on the impact of the implementation of the roster system without a review of the job reservation policy.
“In the meetings, we will also elucidate the importance of the resistance against the attempt to impose a one language policy in the country marked by diversity and also on the criticality of inclusion of the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution,” Myrboh said, adding that the dates would be announced at a later stage.
Apply roster system
prospectively: KSU
The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has asked the NPP-led MDA 2.0 government to implement the Roster Maintenance Policy (RMP) adopted on May 10, 2022, prospectively and not retrospectively.
“It is totally unjustified to fall back on the reservation policy when it came into force in 1972. We understand that the decision of the state government to implement the roster system retrospectively will have a huge impact on the job seekers of this part of the state,” KSU president, Lambokstarwell Marngar told reporters after the union’s general executive council meeting here.
He said they would suggest to the state government that the implementation of the roster system should be from the year it was adopted or from this year (2023).
He said that KSU has been talking about the roster system since 2001.
“We have witnessed many discrepancies in the implementation of the state reservation policy. But it will not be right to speak more on this issue since it is very complex. The issue of the roster system came out after there was a petition in the court,” he said.
Marngar referred to the statements of a few ministers in the recently concluded budget session of the Assembly that they have not been able to fill the vacant posts due to the roster system.
He said this only shows that the government is still undecided about which year and how they will implement the roster system.
He also said that the union had held discussions with legal experts to have a better understanding of this matter.
“We will not be able to disclose how we are going to move ahead on the issue of the roster system. I can only say that we have taken a serious note of this matter,” he said.
According to the KSU president, the issue should not be rushed as it concerns the entire Khasi indigenous community.
“We will have to have an in-depth understanding before making any suggestions to the state government. Is it is not the responsibility of the elected representatives to speak on this issue?” he asked.
He said that the union would take a decision on the issue if the state government empowers it to.
“If the MLAs fail to take responsibility, they will be held responsible if there is a law-and-order breakdown,” Marngar said.
Meanwhile, KHNAM on Tuesday urged Governor Phagu Chauhan to convene a special session of the Assembly to discuss the roster system at length.
“We demand a special session under Article 174 of the Constitution in the best interest of the citizens of the state,” KHNAM vice president, Thomas Passah told reporters here on Tuesday.
He also recalled that the Assembly Speaker did not allow discussion on the roster system during the Budget session.
According to him, this only reflects the ill-motive of the NPP-led MDA 2.0 Government to implement the roster system “retrospectively” to benefit only a section of the community in the state.
“It will be an injustice to the youth from Khasi-Jaintia Hills if the roster system is implemented retrospectively,” the KHNAM vice president said.
