SHILLONG:
The Garo Students’ Union (GSU), on June 3, said that to avoid any further controversies, it would be better for the roster system to be implemented from the day it came into effect – which is the prospective implementation of the system.
“I, as a Garo, would have preferred to clear these backlogs,” GSU president Tengsak G Momin said while acknowledging the practicality of starting the system from the day of implementation.
Several groups in Khasi and Jaintia Hills have been demanding for the prospective implementation of the roster system.
Expressing his understanding of the challenges involved, he said that implementing the roster system from the beginning, that is from 1972, would be a daunting task considering the backlog accumulated over the past 51 years.
Speaking about the demands of other communities for their share of the reservation, like the ‘Desi Muslims’ who had earlier sought for 4 per cent share in the quota policy, Momin explained that the job reservation policy was based on the economic and social backwardness of certain indigenous communities, as well as their educational disadvantages.
While he acknowledged that demands from other communities might be fair, he emphasised that the current state reservation policy allocates 80 per cent of job reservations for the three main tribal communities of Meghalaya and 5 per cent for other tribes.
“Therefore, other tribes were already represented in the state’s job reservation policy. There is no need to extend the policy to include everyone at present. I encourage these communities to be patient and I assure them that their time would come as progress is made,” Momin said.
He also requested that they avoid making the issue more controversial than it already is, while expressing the willingness of the tribal communities to support them in education and job opportunities as they move forward.