The MDA cabinet will meet this week to discuss the method for implementing the reservation roster system in the State.
According to sources, the cabinet is likely to decide on the cut-off date from which the roster system would come into force.
There are indications that the State government may go for prospective implementation of the roster from 2022, the year when the Meghalaya High Court passed the order.
Various political parties including those that are part of the MDA government have openly stated that they favoured prospective implementation of the roster system.
On April 5 and April 10, 2022, the Meghalaya High Court issued an order directing the State government to implement the roster system to ensure that the job reservation policy is adhered to in letter and spirit.
The government also issued an office memorandum dated May 10, 2022 for retrospective application of the roster system in the State.
The 1972 reservation policy in Meghalaya allocated 40 per cent of reserved jobs to the Garo tribe, 40 per cent to the Khasi-Jaintia tribes, 5 per cent to other tribes, and 15 per cent to candidates from the general category.
However, the decision to apply the compensatory roster system from the date the State reservation policy was enacted in 1972 has had a significant bearing on job seekers from the Khasi community as most of the jobs were given to the candidates from the Garo community.
However, the Meghalaya High Court on April 3, 2023 cleared the doubts over the retrospective narrative of the roster system. The court said the cut-off date for the applicability of the roster system is a policy matter that is best left to the legislature and the executive of the State.
In view of the hue and cry over the prospective implementation of the roster system, the State government has decided to put on hold all new advertisements about vacant posts as also all recruitments till the matter is sorted out and all concerns are addressed.
