SHILLONG, Oct 3: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on Thursday proposed that the Expert Committee on the Reservation Policy consider 50% reservation for the Khasi-Jaintia category and 40% for the Garo category while the Bethany Society insisted that the 4% quota for persons with disabilities (PWDs) should be implemented in a transparent manner.
The KSU also proposed 5% reservation for other Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 5% for the unreserved category.
A delegation of the students’ organisation met the members of the expert committee during the three-day public hearing which got under way at the State Convention Centre here.
Later, KSU general secretary Donald V Thabah told reporters they categorically told the committee that if the reservation of jobs is determined based on population, then it should be 50% for the Khasi-Jaintia category and 40% for the Garo category.
He said if the first proposal is not accepted, then the committee can consider 90% quota for Khasis, Jaintias and Garos and 5% each for the other tribes and the unreserved category.
“We have also suggested that the new reservation policy should not be implemented retrospectively as there should not be any backlog. The new policy should start afresh,” Thabah said.
He said the union stressed that children should be taught in their mother tongue in the lower and upper primary levels.
As regards the jobs of teachers, the KSU suggested that there should be a 100% reservation for the Garos in the Garo Hills and a similar 100% quota for the Khasi-Jaintia community in the Eastern range of Meghalaya. The argument for this is that a Garo will not be able to teach in Khasi and a Khasi will not be able to teach in Garo.
The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) said the recommendation of the committee should be able to make everyone happy as much as possible. “We expect that the expert committee will come up with a recommendation which is balanced and which will be beneficial to the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo communities,” HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem told reporters after submitting their suggestions.
The HYC is hopeful that the committee will accept its suggestions.
In its suggestions, it said the job reservation policy of 1972 sub-classified the ST communities of the state into Khasi-Jaintia category, Garo category and other Scheduled Tribes category.
“We are of the opinion that based on the ratio of population of Khasi-Jaintia community, the reservation should be 50% for Khasi-Jaintia; the Garo category should be retained at 40% and other STs category be given 3% reservation. And alternatively, we have also suggested that for competition amongst STs of the state, 93% combined reservation should be provided to the STs of the state, 2% to the SCs and 5% be left as unreserved category,” Synrem said.
The HYC suggested that the present job reservation policy should not be implemented or extended for reservation in admissions into educational institutions and for pursuing higher studies outside the state in a government quota.
According to Synrem, they are of the opinion that the state government should enact a separate legislation as per Article 15 (4) of the Constitution of India for the purpose of reservation in admissions in educational institutions and for pursuing higher studies outside the state in a government quota.
“If the government legislates a separate legislation for this purpose, then we are of the opinion that 93% combined reservation for STs, 2% for SCs and 5% for the unreserved category should be followed,” he said.
At the district level posts, the HYC is of the opinion that the combined reservation for STs needs to be retained with Synrem stating that reservation should be increased to 93% for the STs of the state in a particular district, 2% for the SCs and 5% for the unreserved category.
Further, he said the present policy does not provide for reservation in scientific services and posts. The meaning of scientific services and posts has not been defined clearly in the policy, he said.
He said the reservation in posts and services under ‘Public Undertakings and Government Aided Institutions’ needs to be retained.
“The term “Government Aided Institutions” which has not been defined in the policy needs to be properly defined. If schools like SSA, ad hoc and deficit are included as government aided institutions, we are of the opinion that 93% combined reservation for STs, 2% for SCs and 5% for unreserved category should be followed for recruitment purposes,” Synrem said.
He further said they are of the opinion that the state government should come up with a separate legislation for the purpose of reservation for teachers’ cadre for fully government institutions and government-aided educational institutions.
He said if the government brings in a separate legislation for the purpose of reservation for teachers’ cadre, then 93% combined reservation for STs, 2% for SCs and 5% for the unreserved category should be followed.
He said the state government should enact a separate legislation for the purpose of reservation in admissions into educational institutions and for pursuing higher studies outside the state in a government quota. He said if this is done, 93% combined reservation for STs, 2% for SCs and 5% for the unreserved category should be followed.
He stressed that there should be a provision that reservations will be provided only to the permanent residents of the state.
“The present reservation policy is simply a government resolution and therefore, the new job reservation policy and other reservation policies should be in the form of an Act passed by the Legislative Assembly of the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bethany Society suggested that the reservation policy should not neglect the 4% reservation for PWDs.
A delegation of the Bethany Society, which met the expert committee members, included its executive director Bertha G Dkhar who is visually-impaired and secretary Carmo Noronha.
Noronha told reporters they stressed that the 4% quota for PWDs should be implemented in a transparent manner. The delegation told the committee they do not have any idea what percentage of PWDs are actually employed and in what categories.
Noronha said the Society insisted that the reservation policy should be in line with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the Meghalaya State policy for Empowerment of Persons With Disabilities.
“Both the policy and the Act ensure that there is 4% reservation in all government jobs for PWDs. Our submission was that the state policy cannot neglect the 4% reservation,” he said.
Meanwhile, expert committee member Justice (retired) Satish Chauhan said various individuals and groups filed their representations.
“We had invited them and we are also listening to them personally to know their views. After Shillong, we will go to Garo Hills to conduct the public hearing,” he said.
He added that the committee will try to complete its job and submit its recommendations at the earliest.
