Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma

SHILLONG:

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, on April 17, said the internal meeting of the government on the implementation of the reservation roster will be held within this week even as he maintained that decisions on the cut-off date will be taken only after taking all the stakeholders on board.

“This is a complicated and sensitive subject, affecting a lot of people; hence, we need to ensure that while we try to resolve this issue, we also have to take all stakeholders on board,” Sangma told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 meeting at Courtyard by Mariott in Shillong on April 17.

The chief minister also informed that he would be calling a meeting very soon, adding that the internal meeting of the government will be held within this week to go through all the documentations and proper interpretations of the court orders.

“Only after taking everybody on board, we be able to figure out how to go forward,” he added.

When asked whether this issue is creating a divide between the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo communities – the three major tribes of Meghalaya, Sangma said that issues like these has always been there. “This is not something uncommon. We have seen how it played out in Karnataka (reservation issue in Karnataka) recently. It is natural but what is important is for us to come together and figure out how we can move forward together,” the chief minister said.