The expert committee to review the State reservation policy today held its first physical meeting with senior officials of the Meghalaya government today.
Prior to this the committee had various rounds of virtual meetings.
Further, committee chairman Justice (Retired) Mool Chand Garg and members visited the office of the expert committee located in the office building of the Assistant Commissioner of Food and Safety, Lachaumiere here and during the meeting at the office, they arrived at some conclusion with regard to the future course of action.
The next meeting of the committee is scheduled in the month of April.
The expert committee was notified on September 12, 2023 to review the existing reservation policy as existing in the State of Meghalaya.
The terms of reference of the expert committee are to study the current reservation policy and recommend modifications, if necessary and to undertake wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders and visit various locations of the state to solicit the views of all stakeholders.
The formation of the expert committee followed the demand of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) whose president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit staged an indefinite hunger strike from May 23 to June 1, 2023 to press for review of the reservation policy.
The committee has members from various fields. They include former judge of Allahabad High Court Justice (Retired) Dr. Satish Chandra who is an expert member in constitutional law, Prof. D V Kumar of the Department of Sociology, NEHU, Shillong as expert member in sociology, Prof. Chander Shekhar from the Department of Fertility and Social Demography, Indian Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai as expert member in population studies and Prof. Subhadip Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy of IIM, Shillong as expert member in economics.
