SHILLONG: After the move to remove unrepresented tribes from the Sixth Schedule, the United Hajong Community Development Organisation (UHCDO) has demanded review of state reservation quota for Hajong community.
The UHCDO, based in Tura, has also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma at his residence in this regard.
The UHCDO, while demanding a review of reservation quota in respect of Hajong community, wanted the government not to categorise them in the tribal list of the state as ‘other tribes’.
“We, the Hajong tribes are indigenous, unique tribe of the state and do not belong to any sub-tribe of any other tribals of Northeastern states. In the past, different Hajong organisations of the state have been raising the issue of state reservation policy in many platforms”, the UHCDO said.
“However, the Meghalaya government does not seem to be interested to address our demand and therefore, the UHCDO submitted the memorandum to the chief minister, with copies to the chief secretary, commissioner and secretary, social welfare department with a request to initiate appropriate action as mentioned in the memorandum. The CM and CS apprised us that the matter will be looked into”, the Hajong body said.
The Hajong community was categorised in the Schedule Tribe list under the notification of the President of India, 1950 together with the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities, the Hajong body said.
According to them, since the members of the community are lagging behind in development, they need special provision and protection from Meghalaya government for their growth and all round development.
“It is also not understood as to why the reservation quota of the Hajong community has been merged with other tribes”, the UHCDO said.
