Ahead of the next High Court hearing relating to the roster system in all government departments for job recruitment purposes scheduled for May 11, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today said that the State government is preparing a detailed affidavit to be submitted to the High Court.
Speaking to media persons after the cabinet meeting here today, Sangma said that the matter was also discussed in the cabinet meeting. He also said that the roster system is a large and complicated exercise because the government has to examine the recruitment in all departments for the past many years.
“So therefore the exercise to complete this entire aspect of the roster system is not something that can be achieved in a matter of days or weeks. It’s also very sensitive in nature as one can imagine,” he said.
The chief minister informed that officials of all departments, the entire government machinery and the chief secretary herself are working on this massive exercise and hence it is taking some time.
“The process is on. We are working on it. I’m hopeful that very soon we should be able to come out with a proper affidavit to be submitted to the court and accordingly we will be able to take the decision to move forward,” Sangma added.
Asked about the carry over system, Sangma agreed that the system was there in the recruitment process. However, he declined to comment further on the matter since the issue is sub-judice.
It may be mentioned that the High Court has reminded the State government that the roster system is relevant only for entry-level posts, unless reservation is also provided for in promotion.
During the hearing on April 21, the High Court said that in order to ascertain what categories of persons would be next recruited, it is necessary to formulate a roster and apply the roster to all entry-level posts since the time the reservation policy came into effect, including cadres that were born after the reservation policy came into effect.
According to the High Court, it is only after ascertaining the position in respect of each entry-level post, it would be possible to assess how the discrepancies, if any, may be addressed “by inviting more applications in future recruitments from categories which have been under-represented so that at a given point of time there is no further discrepancy.”
It may be recalled that the division bench of the High Court had on April 5 stayed all recruitments in State government departments and agencies until the government came up with a roster system by adhering to the ratio of reservation.
Following the High Court order, the State government on April 8 has officially put on hold all recruitment processes including job interviews in all government offices throughout the State.
