Shillong: As pressure on the Meghalaya government rises regarding the review of the state’s job reservation policy, state education minister Rakkam Sangma expressed his concerns on Thursday, saying he was apprehensive about the Supreme Court striking down the reservation policy in the near future.
The education minister vehemently opposed the appeal of VPP MLA Ardent Basiawmoit who has been demanding the government to “review” the reservation policy. He also stated that Meghalaya is lucky to have 85 percent job reservation for the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities.
Citing an older Supreme Court judgement (Indira Sawhney case) from 1992 according to which reservation should not exceed 50 percent, Sangma was of the view that the fate of reservation in the state lies at the mercy of the Apex court.
At loggerheads with Basiawmoit’s cause, Sangma said that if the government was to change the reservation policy, the future of students in Meghalaya would be at stake. He requested the public to understand the consequences of any change in the reservation policy while hinting that Basiawmoit’s ongoing demands for the review is akin to “playing with fire”.
Referring to a case in Maharashtra, Sangma reminded the public that in the past the Supreme Court had passed an order stating the permissible limit for reservation in a state to be 50 per cent.
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Following a Supreme Court order seeking the details of reservation policies, on March 27, 2021, the government of Meghalaya submitted a response with justification on the 85 percent reservation for tribals in the state.
The Supreme Court is yet to take note of this.
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