Shillong, Aug 22: The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) has demanded the Meghalaya state government to take up with the Centre for amending the Presidential Order 1950 in regards to the scheduled tribes (ST) list of Meghalaya.
In a letter to the chief secretary DP Wahlang today, KHNAM working president Thomas Passah said the party also requested the state government to instruct ST certificate issuing authority to abide with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as notified in 1975 and 1977 and to communicate to the various central institutions to ensure that ST quota in the State of Meghalaya are made available only to the indigenous permanent residents of the State (Khasi, Jaintia & Garo).
“The government is also requested to instruct ST issuing authority to entertain complaints against any doubtful individuals who have been issued ST certificates in the past and to strike down their ST status after proper verification,” he stated.
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As per the MHA’s guidelines, a person can only claim to be a SC/ST in their permanent place of residence and that a person migrating from one state to another cannot claim SC/ST status in the new state unless they belong to the same community in that state.
It also stated that a person who marries someone from a SC/ST community does not automatically become a member of that community.
The KHNAM leader however alleged that these guidelines are not being followed in Meghalaya, resulting in the misuse of ST certificates by individuals who are not indigenous to the state.
He cited instances of individuals changing their names and surnames to claim ST status.
“It is observed that there are instances where proper verification is not done while issuing ST Certificate in the State of Meghalaya Further, the ST Benefits that were supposed to be meant for the permanent (Khasi, Jaintia & Garo) residence of the State is being made available to the Migrated Tribes residing temporarily in the State of Meghalaya, this is more visible when there are quota(s) for ST in job vacancies in Central Government/Institutions in the State of Meghalaya.
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There are also various instances wherein individual(s) makes declaration before Notary Public and change their names and surnames e.g Ruksana Parbeen (Muslim) to Evaline Sumer (Khasi), Momin Khezar to Erick Sumer,” Passah said while emphasizing that these practices are harmful for the community and against the guidelines of the MHA.
Referring to the upcoming BSF special recruitment rally/drive for the post of constable (GD) for STs in Meghalaya, Passah urged the chief secretary to communicate to the BSF authority to ensure that only the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo tribes of the state are considered as ST for the said rally which will be in line with the MHA guidelines.
(Newmai News Network)