TURA, June 3: Making an attempt to assuage all stakeholders in Garo Hills and help them understand the roster system to be followed by the state, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma along with his cabinet colleagues and Chief Secretary DP Wahlang met representatives of at least 18 NGOs, leaders of the community, senior citizens from the region here on Saturday to discuss the matter in earnest.
The meeting, which was held within closed doors, aimed to seek clarity and understanding on the reservation roster.
The meeting was attended by notable figures from Garo Hills including former MDC Augustine Marak of GNC, HM Shangpliang former MLA, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, Cabinet Minister M Ampareen Lyngdoh among others.
The objective was to address concerns and seek clarity on the existing reservation roster, ensuring that all participants have a comprehensive understanding of its provisions and implications.
Following the meeting, there was a brief press interaction where Conrad said, “The objective was mainly to give a detailed presentation on the roster system and how it will work and after seeing the presentation, there were many queries, many questions which we clarified and most of the members have understood and are quite comfortable and convinced. Formally we’ll be able to take the decision in the cabinet to move things forward on the implementation of the roster.”
The CM added that the state cabinet is expected to meet in the next 2-3 days to move forward on the implementation of the roster.
“Many who came today raised questions about the reservation policy and the committees that have been set up and we explained that in a democracy, we need to give ample space for all people to raise their concerns and opinions,” the CM said.
Conrad explained that during the all-party meet, one suggestion that came up was the formation of an expert committee besides the political committee on the roster system
“The government has agreed on this and the matter will be taken up in the Cabinet meet. Once this committee has been set up, it will be asked to do its research by meeting people, stakeholders, researching the reservation policy (both national and state) as many times as required (before any decisions are taken),” informed Conrad.
Meanwhile, NGO members who attended the meeting including the GSU, FKJGP, ADE, AYWO among others, expressed their gratitude for calling them along with senior citizens and leaders of the area for the meet in Tura.
“We are partially satisfied after the explanation and presentation by the CM but will have to go through the fine print of what the roster system will entail. We have been told that a hard copy of the same will be provided to us and we will review it. In case there are questions, we will raise them. We are hoping that the system will ensure that our community is not deprived in the future. We have, however, not discussed the JRP,” said AYWO president Sengbath Ch Marak.
“The meeting today was to discuss the roster system and how to implement the roster system and how it will work for the benefit of all indigenous people without any discrepancy. The CM went into details to explain to us that the roster system is about giving the correct benefits to the indigenous people who may have been deprived before the roster system,” informed GSU president, Tengsak Momin.