BJP plea for cut-off date on job roster

SHILLONG, April 25: The state BJP has requested the NPP-led MDA 2.0 government to set a cut-off date for the implementation of the roster reservation system in Meghalaya.
Cabinet Minister AL Hek made the request on Tuesday after a meeting of a committee constituted by the party to study the roster issue.
He said the party would request the government to fix a cut-off date for the implementation of the roster system as the High Court of Meghalaya ruling does not indicate such a date or year.
Hek said the cut-off date would be discussed when an all-party or MDA meeting is called. “I have already asked Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma to call a meeting of the MDA to discuss the matter,” he added.
He said the cut-off date should either be approved by the Cabinet or in the Assembly, in line with a High Court of Meghalaya ruling.
Hek did not foresee any friction between the Khasi and the Garo communities over the roster system after years of co-existing peacefully.
The roster system and the reservation policy have become hotly debated issues with political parties and pressure groups in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills demanding that it be put on hold until the reservation system is reviewed. But groups based in the Garo Hills have warned against any tweaking of the reservation policy, arguing that their backward region has been deprived for more than 50 years since statehood.