Shillong, June 13: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) on Thursday submitted a seven-point suggestion to the Expert Committee who has been mandated to review the State Reservation Policy (SRP) of 1972.
While speaking to reporters after submitting its suggestion to the Expert Committee, KHNAM working president, Thomas Passah said that they have suggested that the reservation should be based on population to decide on the ratio of reservation between the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo communities.
He further stated that they have also suggested that there should be a combined 80 percent reservation for the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo to avoid any confrontation or misunderstanding.
Insisting that the reservation should be based on merit, he said that 50 percent should be given to the Khasi Jaintia since their population ratio is higher to the Garo community.
“In the SRP of 1972, there is a common 80 percent reservation for all the three tribes if there is a vacancy at the district level. But we feel that there should be 80 percent reservation should be for the Garos if there is any vacancies in Garo Hills and similarly, there should be 80 percent reservation for the Khasi-Jaintia community if there is any vacancies in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region,” Passah said.
He further stated that the state reservation policy should be implemented at the private sector also and unorganized sector so that employability of the youth increases.
Meanwhile, KHNAM working president said that they have also suggested that carrying of posts should not to be allowed since there is provision in the SRP of 1972 to carry forward the posts.
“We have made a suggestion that the seats reserved for the indigenous tribe of the State are to be reserved for the indigenous tribes from the state and it should not be extended to the tribes who are from outside,” Passah said.
According to him, they have also suggested to the expert committee that the reservation policy should only be meant for job reservation and not for academic purposes.
“What is happening is that the state reservation policy is also extended for academic purposes,” he said.
KHNAM working president said that they have also proposed to the expert committee to delete the word Autonomous from the SRP of 1972 since Meghalaya is no longer an autonomous State.
Passah also added that they have impressed upon the Expert Committee to fast track the whole exercise and not to keep it pending for too long.