Shillong, June 23: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) has urged the Meghalaya state government to circulate the report of the expert committee on the Meghalaya reservation policy to all political parties.
According to KHNAM working president Thomas Passah, the committee, headed by Justice (Retd) M.C. Garg, has submitted its report to the government after reviewing the existing reservation policy in Meghalaya.
The expert committee, constituted on September 12, 2023, comprises Justice (Retd) Dr. Satish Chandra, Prof. D.V. Kumar, Prof. Chander Shekhar, and Prof. Subhadip Mukherjee as members. The committee’s mandate is to review the state reservation policy by obtaining views from all stakeholders.
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Passah stated that all politic al parties, NGOs, and stakeholders have met the committee and submitted their views and suggestions. He emphasized that it is essential to make the report available to all political parties, enabling them to study and submit further representations to the government if necessary.
“As a party, we strongly feel that a copy of the report submitted by the committee should be made available to all political parties so that parties can study and further submit representations to the government if so required,” he added.
The demand for transparency in the reservation policy review comes amid ongoing debates and discussions on the policy’s effectiveness and implications for various communities in Meghalaya.
The state government had set up the expert committee to review the 1972 reservation policy, which reserves 40 per cent of government jobs for the Khasi-Jaintia tribes, 40 per cent for the Garo tribe, and 5 per cent for other tribes.
Meanwhile, as entrusted by the state cabinet, Chief Secretary D.P. Wahlang recently informed that he would study the report of the expert committee and submit his recommendations on the steps to be taken by the state government regarding the state reservation policy by August 31.
(Newmai News Network)