Shillong, May 9: The Voice of the People Party (VPP) today stated that its decision to abstain from an all-party meeting that aimed to discuss the report from the expert committee on the state reservation policy was rooted in “principled grounds and political reasoning.”
VPP spokesperson Airpeace Well Rani said the party’s decision was not made irresponsibly.
Rani stated that the VPP has continuously maintained that the most suitable, democratic, and constitutional platform for discussing the expert committee report on the reservation policy is the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
Unfortunately, he pointed out that the government has avoided a meaningful discussion in the assembly and has instead opted to address the matter in an all-party meeting.
Rani said that the party has consistently demanded a review and revision of the reservation policy in accordance with the population ratio. He said the expert committee avoided proposing significant reforms, labelling the issue as “sensitive.” Justice cannot be postponed indefinitely under the guise of sensitivity, he added.
Furthermore, he stated that the all-party meeting appeared more as a political formality rather than a genuine effort to resolve the pressing issue.
“Almost all participating parties are either directly or indirectly part of the MDA government. It is also evident that the Indian National Congress party has accepted the recommendations of the Expert Committee on the matter. Under such circumstances, the VPP had every reason to believe that the meeting was structured more to dilute or sabotage the demand rather than genuinely address it. Therefore, the decision to stay away was intentional and politically conscious,” the VPP spokesperson said.
Rani said that if the government is genuinely interested in increasing the Khasi-Jaintia reservation quota to 47 per cent, the VPP would welcome such a significant move. However, he cautioned that the real challenge remains whether the government is earnest in rectifying the imbalances in the reservation system.
