President of the Federation of Khasi Jaintia & Garo people (FKJGP) Dundee Khongsit said that the percentage allocated to the Khasi-Jaintia and Garo categories should not be touched.
Speaking to media persons, Khongsit said that it is a fact that Meghalaya is very fortunate as Tribal communities enjoy 80% in job reservation since as per the central law, no community can exceed 50 per cent in any reservation.
Khongsit said that everyone understands that this is a very sensitive issue and it will be better if the state reservation policy is left as it is or else the state might even lose out the 80% job reservation.
“As per my understanding according to the central law, no community can exceed 50% when it comes to job reservation, so yes we are in fact fortunate that 80% was allocated to the Tribals, so it is better if we don’t make any changes or else we might lose out on that 80%” said Khongsit.
On the other hand, Khongsit said that the FKJGP endorsed the demand that the roster system should be implemented prospectively from the date that the state government came up with an office memorandum on 10th May 2022.
Khongsit said that the federation is happy with the directive of the Meghalaya High Court which suggested that it is now left to the state government to decide on the cut-off date for implementation of the roster system.