Govt had appealed for prospective implementation of roster system
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong today said that the state government had pleaded before the Meghalaya High Court to allow implementation of the roster system ‘prospectively’.
“After the High Court has given its ruling in 2022, we have filed an affidavit (on this matter) not less than three times where we pleaded with the High Court to allow us (government) to implement the roster system prospectively not retrospectively,” Tynsong told reporters.
“But the High Court at that point in time insisted us that it should be implemented retrospectively meaning from the inception of the state reservation policy,” he said when responding to a query with regards to the demand of the Voice of the People Party to put on hold implementation of the roster system pending the review of the state reservation policy.
Tynsong however informed that the government would soon convene a cabinet meeting and an All-party meeting to discuss the roster system.
“Again we are waiting for the chief minister to reach Shillong and we will call a meeting, we will have a cabinet meeting and also we will have an all-party meeting with all responsible leaders and we will share and will discuss how to go forward,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said, “I have no right to reply on behalf of the High Court but that’s what I am saying the point is very clear that we pleaded already as we wanted to implement it prospectively but the high court insisted and said on record that it should be implemented from the inception of reservation policy. So as of today, it stands like that.”
KHNAM demands suspension of recruitment sans roster system
The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) said discussing the roster system in the Cabinet alone will not solve or bring light to the problem even as it demanded putting on hold all job recruitments till a proper roster system is in place.
The statement came a day after Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had informed that the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government will soon discuss and take a call on the issue related to the roster system in the upcoming meeting of the state Cabinet.
Tynsong had also informed that the government may also discuss the issue in the MDA meeting and all-party meeting.
In a statement, KHNAM vice president Thomas Passah said that the statement made by the Deputy Chief Minister on the roster system does not sound promising.
“We would like to state that discussing the roster system in the Cabinet alone will not solve or bring light to the problems. The hopeful steps the government is planning to take on the issue, which includes, Cabinet meeting, meeting with the MDA partners, All party meeting etc as stated by the Deputy CM seems to be time buying tactic on one hand while on the other hand recruitment process of various Departments is being speed up to capitalize on the current and illegal roster system to help one section of the community,” he stated.
“Lately, we have seen that there are lots of advertisements floated for recruitment in various departments in the government, there have been instances also where vacancies have been readvertised as per quota made through the roster system, wherein more seats have been allotted to Garos and fewer seats to the Khasi Jaintia community,” Passah alleged.
Demanding the government to put on hold all recruitment processes, the KHNAM leader said, “Therefore, if the Government is serious, we demand that all recruitment be put on hold, till a proper and legal roster system is in place.”