Mandatory Reforms at the KHADC

By Melarbor L Thabah

Khasi people voted for change in which reforms are expected to be carried out by the VPP EC before they decide which party to vote for in 2028. A few of the important reforms that I am suggesting herewith are as follows: –

1. Raising Upper Age Job Relaxation to 40 years for Khasi STs: The local bodies of other states recognize the hardship of getting government jobs with many candidates which takes them 8 to 12 years to secure jobs which is why they had raised the upper age limit. The KHADC should raise the upper age limit with the exception of the Enforcement Department which should be 32 years.
2. Discontinuation of Personal Interviews for Group D & Group C Posts: Personal interviews are a means of manipulation which gives headache to the parents of the passed candidates post written exam. To ensure by law that Discontinuation of Personal Interviews for Group D & Group C Posts provides a fair playing field, all advertisements must have a Maximum Qualification to ensure that graduates and post graduates will not be able to apply for Group D posts and Low-Level Group C posts up to Pay Level 4 matrix. All Physical and Technical tests should be purely QUALIFYING in nature via Personnel Ministry Notification; 15.11.2015. Employment is a Concurrent subject for which Maximum Qualification and Punishment for violators who dupe to hide their Maximum Qualification at the time of application with job removal and subsequent charges of duping can be incorporated. Discontinuation of Personal Interview was listed on the VPP manifesto of 2023.
3. Breaking / Conversion of Redundant posts and Aligning of posts: Redundant posts which no longer serve their purpose should be broken up from higher to create smaller pay level posts or converting redundant posts of the same pay level into other essential posts of the same level. Alignment of posts in a hierarchical order such as the 3 Chief Forest Officers (CFO) which should be aligned as Assistant CFO, Deputy CFO and CFO as per Merit / Seniority. Likewise, with other such posts in the various departments.
4. Recruitment Agency: The Staff Selection Commission, Shillong Branch by law must conduct both the written exams and personal interviews. KHADC Recruitment Board / MPSC / DSC is fervently opposed since they will be subjected to interview manipulation and paper leakage allegedly by future ECs.
5. Advertisement: All vacant sanctioned posts must be advertised in the KHADC website, in the print and media. A law is needed with a clause for future ECs to follow it and if they break it, the KHADC can be taken to Court.
6. Protocols for Result Declaration: A protocol law for transparency by following the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission, all results declared must have (a). Serial No,(b).Name with Sex of the Candidate, (c).Category, (d).Written Exams Marks, (e).Personal Interview Marks for Group B and A posts only,(f). Tally marks of both written and personal interview for Group B and A posts only, (g).Failed and Passed candidates marks of written exams must be displayed separately in the website, (h). Personal Interview marks must be 15% of the total marks as per central norms.
7. Financial Prudence: All outstanding liabilities must be cleared within a year. CAG can render advice for administrative efficiency. Digitization is a must with NIC assistance. A shift towards capital formation and investments is necessary. Previous year auditing by the CAG with Utilization Certificates made readily available as and when needed should be mandatory and not audited five years later. Appointments of chairmen and boards in all its manifestations prerequisites banning. Committees with Secretaries cannot exceed 9 months. A law encompassing all these essentials is warranted.
8. Sanctioning of posts: Servicing Departments require posts to be sanctioned to cater the increasing population. However, a threshold limit number for Local Bodies is requisite which cannot be beyond the limit for creation of permanent / non – permanent posts. There should only be two types of non-permanent posts namely casual and contractual posts. Adhoc posts must be removed from the ADC Rule and banned since Adhocs inhibit advertisement of posts and get pay scale as permanent posts even though they have not even passed the competitive exams. If any post is urgently required, casual and contractual can they fill up. Excessive appointments seeds bankruptcy to ADCs by law.
9. Tax Collection and Professional Tax: Obligatory staff training in tax collection by agencies is paramount to enhance revenue collection and avoid leakage. Further, the Professional Tax must be according to the pay matrix of the workers to augment tax collection.
10. Scheme utilization: ATime Bar law from sanctioning to completion of schemes cannot extend beyond six months from its anticipated completion date.  All schemes and their status must be displayed in the website of the respective departments.
11. Uranium Mining ban & Decadent Laws: The National Forest Amendment Act, 2023 will recognize the laws made by the local bodies. A Law to ban uranium mining perpetually is called for to prevent the incessant suffering of the people that was witnessed by the state fact-finding team which visited Jadugudda, Bihar in 2009.
12. Khasi Inheritance of Property–It has been observed frequently that on the demise of the mother; the ancestral property is challenged by family members who have female daughters and the rightful male heirs lose in court because Khasi customs dictate that only the youngest daughter or daughter(s)would inherit the ancestral property. Right to privacy in decision-making of the family grants discretion to the parents to privately decide which sibling or gender will inherit the ancestral property and not for legislators to subvert this privacy right. Freedom of Expression grants the freedom to parents to express their views, opinions, beliefs, conscience and convictions freely expressing them through speech, writing, printing or video. Parents “Expression” to decide in “Privacy” on whom to inherit the property must be respected. Right to Equality before the law prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex. Male heirs must be accorded the same rights as the youngest female or females for equality. A law which recognizes the fundamental right to privacy, equality and freedom of expression of the parent(s) as to which sibling or sibling gender will inherit the property is indispensable.
13. ADC Rule Amendment: ADC Rule 128 must be completely amended to compulsorily allow only the native Khasi, Jaintia and Garo people to vote in the KHADC elections barring all other tribes even if they can speak the Khasi language and reside in the Khasi hills from immemorial times.
14. Clan Bill: It must address the following: -(A).Westernization of Khasi Surnames must be disallowed prospectively and they will have to revert back to their original Khasi surnames, (B).All Half Ending Khasi surnames like War, Dkhar, Mylliem must be disallowed prospectively but must end with full surnames,(C).“Lyngdoh and Syiem” are NOT Surnames but “Titles” which should come before the name.“Lyngdoh” is a Nongknia or Ritual Performer and “Syiem” is a King. In both instances, the person will hold the Title of “Lyngdoh” or “Syiem” “Before” his name so long as he is holding the position and will be stripped of the Title upon ceasing of his term.“Lyngdoh” must be removed and only the end part after Lyngdoh which is the “Real Surname” can be retained. “Syiem” must be substituted with another “Real Surname”.(D). Non-Khasi tribes who stole Khasi surnames must be Punished, Fined with Reversion back to their own surnames, (E). “Tangjait” requires halting for creating confusion. Such stakeholders must be consulted.
15. Lineage Act Amendment: Lineage means line of descent, ancestry and pedigree. Khasi parents whose lineage of descent carrying the Khasi DNA, will have Khasi offspring carrying the same Khasi DNA. It is preposterous to deny Khasi kids from having the Schedule Tribe (Khasi) Certificate just because they take up the father’s surname notwithstanding that these progeny carry the Khasi Gene lineage. In fact, respected scientific journals universally agree that generally, male genes are dominant over female genes both phenotypically -genotypically even when a Khasi man procreates with a non-Khasi woman. A scientific DNA fact trumps customs. The Right to Choose which falls under the Fundamental Right to Life & Personal Liberty, Privacy and Expression were violated by the amended Lineage Act, 2023. Amendment is imperative.