Meghalaya sets up panel to review 1972 quota policy as dominant Khasis seek greater share

On Wednesday, at the first meeting of the committee, headed by Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, a decision was taken to send a recommendation to the state government to constitute an expert committee.

“At the level of this committee, we are not competent to discuss all those matters [related to the reservation policy]. We have asked all political parties to prepare suggestions, omissions, cancellations and deletions with substantial legal footing,” Lyngdoh said, following the meeting.

On Thursday, the Meghalaya government passed an order, notifying the special committee. It said its members would include experts on constitutional law, economics, sociology, demographic studies and related fields.

VPP members have said the party expects the review within a “reasonable time frame”, failing which they would continue their movement. A newly formed party, the VPP secured surprise victories in four out of the 12 seats it contested in the recently concluded elections for the 60-seat Meghalaya Assembly, with the reservation issue a prominent plank in its campaign.

Since its creation in 1972, Meghalaya has kept 40% of government jobs reserved for each of its two main ethnic communities — the Garos and Khasis. The Jaintias, the third most dominant tribe in the state, were clubbed with the Khasis. Another 5% was for other tribes, and 15% for the general category.

The VPP has been calling for a change in the existing policy, arguing that it is unfair to the Khasis because the tribe’s population is higher than that of the Garos, and that reservations should be proportionate to the population structure of the state.

According to the 2011 Census, the Khasis and Jaintias make up 14.1 lakh of the state’s population, while the Garos number around 8.21 lakh. Other tribes such as Wars, Bhois and Lyngngams are also counted under the Khasis.

The VPP’s Myrboh said their call for a review was not “for or against” one community or tribe. “There are inherent contradictions in the policy… these need to be looked into. We stand for the principle of equity and fairness,” he said.

Ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections — in which Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) won 26 seats and went on to form a multi-party coalition government — a promise to review the reservation policy didn’t just make it into the VPP’s campaign, but also of other parties in the Khasi hills like the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), which are both part of the current coalition government. With pressure building from Basaiawmoit’s fast, even these parties rallied behind the cause, along with the Congress.

The government initially constituted an all-party committee to discuss adoption of a “roster system” for job reservations, as directed by the Meghalaya High Court last year following a PIL, but never implemented. The government also said it would put on hold all new recruitments until the committee submitted its report.

The roster would essentially be a record of the actual community-wise allocation of vacancies. For instance, if any of the 40% slots earmarked for Garos in a particular recruitment exercise remained unfilled, people from other communities would be considered for filling the gap — and vice-versa.

The government never went ahead with implementation of the roster system since the High Court did not specify whether it had to be implemented retrospectively or prospectively.

The VPP, however, remained steadfast on its demand that rather than a roster system, what was needed was a review of the policy itself. “The flaw lies in the reservation policy… the roster is just a way of implementing that. We want the former to be addressed,” Myrboh said.

On Tuesday finally the government reconstituted the committee, saying it would discuss not just the roster system, but also the reservation policy.

Meanwhile, over the last week, at least two other groups have written to the government demanding reservation. This includes a conglomeration of headmen from the Jaintia Hills, asking for 20% reservation specifically for the Jaintia tribe. Another group, representing the ‘desi’ Muslims inhabiting the plains belt under the Garo Hills, has also sought 4% reservation.

(with PTI inputs)