The Hynñiewtrep Youth Council (HYC) today met Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh with regard to job reservation in central government offices and institutions in Meghalaya.
The HYC, which submitted a representation on the issues to Lyngdoh, stated that the central government had revised the quantum of reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes for public C and D posts that normally attract candidates from a local region.
In the representation, the HYC said that, in Meghalaya, the reservation is 1 per cent for SCs, 44 per cent for STs and 5 per cent for OBCs.
However, the pressure group said that most central government’s offices/institutions/undertakings do not follow this reservation, depriving local youths of jobs.
Meanwhile, the HYC also raised the issue of establishing fast track courts or special courts for drugs cases. The pressure group expressed gratitude to the Social Welfare Department for launching the Drug Reduction, Elimination, and Action Mission (DREAM) with an aim to transform the state into a ‘Drug free Meghalaya’.
“It is a comprehensive policy, no doubt, with a vision to eliminate substance use and establish a society free from the grips of substance addiction, which all of us are wishing for,” the HYC said.
However, it was also concerned that this policy would become one that looks good on paper but fails to be implemented properly.
He also urged the Social Welfare Minister to take steps to further strengthen the crackdown against drug traffickers, by detaining and booking those accused who have been arrested more than once under the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act 1988.
