Roster system mandatory for implementation of reservation policy: Meghalaya CM

SHILLONG, MAR 27: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said it is a mandatory rule to have a roster system in place for implementation of the state reservation policy.

Replying to the budget discussion, Sangma said the roster system was not implemented in the state for the past 50 years and now it is being implemented based on the order passed by the Meghalaya High Court.

He however said that the members are free to challenge the court order. “They can always challenge the order,” Sangma said.

Earlier while participating in the budget discussion, Voice of the People Party (VPP) chief and Nongkrem legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit demanded the state government to put on hold implementation of the roster system pending the review of the reservation policy.

He said without an iota of doubt, the decision to fix reservation of 40% for the Garos and 40% for the Khasi-Jaintia were done thoughtlessly and rush on the part of the Khasi leaders to agree to the arrangement may be due to the fear that the dream of achieving statement will not be achieved or they must have overlooked the difference in the size of the population.

Stating that the reservation policy has been changed around 8-10 times through office memorandums (OMs), Basaiawmoit however said, “I feel that it is an urgent need to put on hold the implementation of the roster system retrospectively and let the government come up with a better policy. If we go by this (present) policy, changes have been brought to allow people from outside to avail this benefit.”

“If leaders in the past can come for the formation of the state, why can’t leaders from both sides sit together and come up with a better policy,” he asserted.

The VPP leader further maintained that his party is not against the roster system and said, “We also don’t have any intention or ill feeling against any community. We understand we have to be very careful and to deal with utmost care as we don’t want to hurt the sentiment of any particular community.”

By Our Reporter