Reservation also known as affirmative action or positive discrimination is backed by the Indian Constitution. The Meghalaya State Reservation Policy was intelligently crafted by the founding fathers of this state essentially to address the need for affirmative action for the indigenous tribes of Meghalaya the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo. If all the three tribes are classed as one, Meghalaya would, as per the Constitution, only be able to have got 50% reservation since the Constitution does not allow anything more than that for any single ST category. By dividing the tribes into two major categories the first legislators of the new state of Meghalaya were able to get 80% reservation for the local tribes, 5% for the minor tribes who are of Meghalayan domicile while 15 % was for the open general category. Perhaps the only error was that the Government at the time did not anticipate that the matter would reach the portals of a court and be questioned. It was imperative to maintain a strict roster as to how many from each category were able to avail the seats allocated to them; what would happen to the 40% seats allocated to the Khasi-Jaintia and 40% to the Garos if any job applicant from that category failed to make the cut. Should the unfilled seats be carried over for the next job vacancy?
At the time the number of technically qualified people were relatively few in number and often the ST vacancies had to be filled by those from the unreserved category. The other alternative was to let the vacancies remain unfulfilled and have a governance problem at hand. The very fact that vacancies arise is because there is a need for critical manpower in those positions. But all these remain unrecorded for the past 50 years. Add to this the nepotism that crept in when the undeserved from amongst the reserved categories got in while the deserving were left in the lurch.
Now 50 years down the line the Meghalaya High Court had to raise the Roster question because that is the only way to ensure equity and justice in appointment to entry level posts. It is unfortunate that this matter has taken on a dangerous political colour which threatens to break the long held solidarity between the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo tribes. Anything that takes on an ethnocentric colour is unhealthy in a state with mixed ethnicities.
The Voice of Peoples’ Party (VPP) has given an ultimatum to the government to resume the job appointment process by following the Reservation Policy minus the Roster System. The matter is still in the Meghalaya High Court. The VPP comprises some of the best educated members and scholars. They are well aware that if they wish to challenge the Roster system the court is the proper forum. So why are they taking the political instead of the legal route? Not everything in the life of a state must be reduced to political brinkmanship.