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Friday, March 29, 2024

HITO backs VPP demand for reservation policy review

In a statement, HITO president Donbok Dkhar said it was evident that there was a genuine cause for the dissatisfaction of the Khasi-Jaintia Scheduled Tribe community of the state and “it is imperative that the existing Job Reservation Policy of 1972 be reviewed by the government so as to ensure adequate and effective representation of the Khasi and Jaintia communities, based on the present population.”

SHILLONG:

Supporting the demand of Voice of the People Party (VPP), the Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) on May 22 asserted the need for the state government to review the job reservation policy of 1972, to ensure the Khasi and Jaintia communities are adequately represented based on the present population.

In a statement, HITO president Donbok Dkhar said it was evident that there was a genuine cause for the dissatisfaction of the Khasi-Jaintia Scheduled Tribe community of the state and “it is imperative that the existing Job Reservation Policy of 1972 be reviewed by the government so as to ensure adequate and effective representation of the Khasi and Jaintia communities, based on the present population.”

He said the Meghalaya State Job Reservation Policy was introduced by way of a government resolution dated January 12, 1972 issued by the Secretary (Special) to the Government of Meghalaya, so as to protect and safeguard the interests of the tribal communities of the state.

As per the policy as amended till date, there is a reservation of 40 per cent of the vacancies in favour of Khasis and Jaintias, 40 per cent in favour of Garos, and 5 per cent in favour of any other Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste of Meghalaya.

Stating that the policy as per the resolution of January 12, 1972 clearly states that reservation is based on population, Dkhar said, “However, it appears that the said Reservation Policy is not proportionate to the population of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Scheduled Tribe communities in the State as on date, in as much as the same was based by the then policymaker(s) on their assumption instead of factual Census data.”

He said as per the 2011 Census, the Khasi &Jaintia community comprised about 14,11,775 of the total population in the state, and the Garo community comprised about 8,21,026.

“The same goes to show that there is a majority of Khasi-Jaintia population in the State, however the said communities are not adequately represented as per the existing reservation policy,” he said adding “It is stated with heartfelt despondency that the Khasi-Jaintia tribes are being usurped of their rightful entitlements and as a result, the Khasi and Jaintia communities, especially the youth, are made to face serious difficulties in the State without any fault on their part. Further, the welfare, development and upliftment of the said communities are being hampered due to lack of adequate representation/reservation in government jobs.”

Further, the implementation of the roster system by way of an office memorandum was done without proper examination of the population structure and without weighing the pros and cons, he added.

 

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