Renewed call for status quo on state reservation policy

TURA, July 11: Joining a host of groups and civil societies from Garo Hills, the North Garo Hills Job Reservation Policy Coordination Committee, the United A’chik Youth Federation (UAYF) and All Khasi Hills Nokma Welfare Association (AKHNWA) have urged the Expert Committee on Reservation Policy to maintain status quo on the policy.
In its recommendations submitted to LK Diengdoh, Secretary of the Expert Committee, the North garo Hills-based group suggested that the existing provisions to the Garo community should remain intact. They also urged the expert committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the socio economic data and empirical evidence to assess the continuing need for the reservation policy and to refrain from making any changes that could adversely impact the Garo community.
It also urged the committee to consider the potential legal challenges that could arise out of any change.
“Changes that reduce the benefits currently available to the Garo community may be seen as discriminatory and unconstitutional. Any deviation from these principles could be subject to legal scrutiny and challenge,” it warned.
The committee also asked the expert committee to engage in consultations with representatives from Garo Hills by conducting ground visits to all the district headquarters, in order to understand concerns and perspectives before making any final recommendation.
Even the UAYF and AKHNWA have echoed the same demand and made it clear that there should be no change or alteration while revisiting the state reservation policy, so as to honour the sentiments of the three major tribes of Meghalaya.
They also stated that the quota policy shall not to be changed or modified to allocate the reserved seats on the basis of population of any particular community, since reservation is meant for economically weaker sections of the society and the tribes in particular, especially in Meghalaya.
The groups also said that the reservation roster system should be effectively followed to maintain transparency in recruitment processes in the future.