SHILLONG: Leaders of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM), on Friday (May 19), staged a walk-out from the all-party meeting that was convened to discuss the roster system issue in Meghalaya.
The all-party meeting on roster system was convened by the Meghalaya government on Friday (May 19) at the main secretariat in Shillong.
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VPP leaders said that discussing the roster system without talks on “roster reservation” would be a waste of time.
“There is no point discussing about the roster system. It is like putting cart before the horse. Unless we talk about reservation, discussing the roster system is a waste of time,” VPP leader Ricky Syngkon told the media.
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Speaking about walking-out from the meeting, the VPP leaders stated that they decided to attend the meeting only because the agenda put forth was “Reservation Roster”.
VPP chief Ardent Basiawmaoit announced that an indefinite hunger strike will be kicked-off by the party on May 23 at the gates of the main secretariat in Shillong.
On the other hand, KHNAM leaders also echoed similar views as that of their VPP counterparts saying that the party felt it was a waste of time discussing about the roster system since their main concern was the reservation policy.
KHNAM general secretary Thomas Passah said: “The party has made its point very clear on the prospective implementation of the Roster System.
He also urged the Meghalaya government to halt all the recruitment processes till a proper roster system is implemented.
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It may be mentioned here that a crucial meeting was held with MLAs of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) and senior state government officials, “wherein a detailed presentation was given on the roster system”.
The meeting was attended by almost all parties in the MDA-II government- NPP, BJP, UDP and HSPDP.
Notably, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, on Thursday (May 18), had said that a reservation policy without implementing a roster is meaningless.
The opposition VPP has been demanding that the Meghalaya government modify the reservation policy.
The present policy needs a relook as the population of Khasis consisting of subtribes – Jaintias, Wars, Bhois and Lyngngams – is higher than the Garo people, the VPP claimed.