SHILLONG, May 27 (PTI): The Meghalaya government has issued a notification for setting up an all-party committee, headed by law minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, to discuss the implementation of the job reservation roster system in the state, officials said on Saturday.
Governor Phagu Chauhan issued the order in this regard on Friday, they said.
Voice of the People’s Party (VPP), whose leader Ardent Basaiawmoit is observing an indefinite fast since Tuesday last, was included in the committee.
The VPP is demanding a review of the 1972 “unfair and outdated” reservation policy in Meghalaya.
However, the VPP rejected its inclusion in the committee.
“It is not important for us to take part and deliberate on a roster of the faulty policy. The people of the state want the government to discuss the reservation policy.
“We have seen the government’s attitude in the last meeting. They do not want us to discuss the roster,” a VPP spokesperson told PTI.
A roster is an application to determine the reservation of posts in a cadre for different categories with reference to the applicable percentage of reservations.
The opposition Congress is also demanding review of the reservation policy.
Congress MLA Charles Marngar told reporters that there is a need to review the reservation policy.
“It has been left without review in the past 50 years. There is a growing demand to review the 1972-policy,” he said.
Meanwhile, the VPP chief on Saturday completed 100 hours of fasting to put pressure on the government to review the reservation policy.
Since 1972, 40 per cent of the state government jobs are reserved for the Garo and Khasi communities each. Another five per cent is reserved for other tribes residing in the state while the remaining 15 per cent are for the general category.
The VPP has been seeking a review of the policy asserting that it is unfair to the Khasi tribe, the population of which has outnumbered that of the Garos over the years.
The present policy needs a relook as the population of Khasis consisting of subtribes – Jaintias, Wars, Bhois and Lyngngams – is higher than the Garo people, it said.
According to the 2011 census, over 14.1 lakh Khasis live in Meghalaya while the number of Garo people is a little over 8.21 lakh.
So, this policy is “unfair and outdated”, the VPP president had said.
According to Basaiawmoit, he is not against the rights of the Garos to government jobs and he is only demanding an “impartial” job reservation policy.
