SHILLONG, April 12: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday said the state government had thrice pleaded with the High Court of Meghalaya to allow it to implement the roster system “prospectively” but it insisted that it should be implemented “retrospectively”.
“We filed affidavits not less than three times pleading that the High Court should allow us to implement the roster system prospectively but the court said it should be implemented retrospectively, which means from the inception (1972),” Tynsong told reporters, claiming that the government’s stand on the issue is clear.
He said once Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma returns to Shillong, there will be Cabinet, MDA and all-party meetings to discuss how to go forward.
Recently, the Voice of the People Party (VPP) had said it is open to talks on the roster system but if the proposed all-party discussion fails and a special session of the Assembly is not convened to discuss the matter, it will hit the streets and go to people.
Meanwhile, the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) said reservation policy or roster system are not the issues of the party alone but also of the people. It demanded that the issuance of job advertisements is put on hold till a decision on the roster system is arrived at.
The statement comes a day after the VPP claimed it is the only party that raised and included the issue related to reservation policy in its election manifesto. It had asked people to remain united only in its leadership.
KHNAM vice president Thomas Passah said the party would not like to argue or debate as it wants that there is unity, whether among political parties or pressure groups to ensure that the youth of the state are not denied their rights.
“We are not saying this is an issue of KHNAM. It is an issue of the entire Khasi indigenous community which wants the roster system to be implemented prospectively,” Passah said, adding the various pressure groups have also spoken about it.
He said the statement made by Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on the roster system does not sound promising. “We would like to state that discussing the roster system in the Cabinet alone will not solve the problems,” Passah said. He said even as the Deputy CM is talking about the all-party meeting etc, which appears to be a tactic to buy time, the recruitment process in various departments is being sped up to help one community.
Passah said there are instances of vacancies being readvertised as per reservation made through the roster system, where more seats have been allotted to Garos and a lesser number of seats to Khasi-Jaintia community.
“Therefore, if the government is serious, it should put on hold all recruitment processes till a proper and legal roster system is in place,” Passah demanded.
