The Hynniewtrep National Youth Front (HNYF) is against the retrospective application of the roster system but is apprehensive that getting the courts further involved could hurt all indigenous communities in Meghalaya.
Asked about the issue, HNYF leader Sadon K Blah said that the state government has to come up with a suitable policy that suits the conditions and it should be retrospective in nature.
He expressed concern that the demand of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) for a review of the reservation policy could invite the attention of the courts.
This, Blah felt, could result in reductions in the job quota for all indigenous communities as the Supreme Court has previously looked askance at reservations of more than 50 percent; in Meghalaya the 80 percent of government jobs are reserved for the two largest tribal communities, with further smaller reservations for other groups.
“All that can be done is to see that the roster system does not have retrospective effect,” he maintained.
