Tura, May 5: Social activist, Greneth Sangma has written a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills challenging the appointment of lecturers to the Abong Noga Collge which he claimed was against the roster system of the state.
The appointments were notified by the college on Apr 29.
“I object to the appointment of a non-tribal candidate in the Department of History, as it clearly bypasses the mandatory state reservation protocols and the 100-point roster system. The Meghalaya State Reservation Policy mandates a strict 40:40:5 ratio, ensuring 40% for Garos, 40% for Khasi-Jaintias, and 5% for other SC/ST groups,” he stated in his complaint.
He added that the policy must be implemented through a post-based roster system where every vacancy is assigned a specific roster point.
“Upon reviewing the existing staff strength in the Department of History, which already includes non-tribal and other-category members it is statistically evident that the 40% Garo quota is not being maintained. The appointment of another candidate from the “Other ST” or non-tribal category further displaces the vacancy points that should legally be reserved for the Garo community,” felt Greneth.
He complained that filling a new vacancy with a non-tribal candidate when the existing staff already contains non-tribal representation is a mechanical violation of the 100-point roster.
“This suggests that the college management is ignoring the backlog and current reservation requirements meant to protect the employment rights of the indigenous people in this region. Furthermore, the recruitment of non-tribal individuals in a tribal-majority district like West Garo Hills, while qualified local tribal candidates remain available, is a direct infringement on the socio-economic rights guaranteed under the state’s reservation laws,” he asserted.
Through the complaint, Greneth sought the DC to direct the college authorities to produce the current Roster Register for the Department of History to verify which specific roster point was assigned to the advertisement.
He further asked for a stay on the appointment of the other ST candidate for the post of History lecturer to verify if the original quotas, as per the state’s roster system have been fulfilled. He also wanted a directive to be issued to ensure all college posts strictly adhere to the State Reservation Policy as per the recent guidelines of the Meghalaya High Court.
