Shillong: The Meghalaya Indigenous Minority Scheduled Tribe Forum (MIMSTF) has urged Chief Secretary and State Vigilance Commissioner D.P. Wahlang to intervene after Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) leader Thomas Passah demanded that Scheduled Tribe (ST) quotas in Meghalaya be reserved exclusively for Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo communities.
Passah had also suggested that only these three tribes be considered for special recruitment drives in the Border Security Force (BSF).
MIMSTF spokesperson Kaushik Hajong said the forum represents minority ST communities in the state such as Rabha, Hajong, Koch, Boro, Mann, and Karbi. “Our youths are unemployed and eager to join the armed forces. We met the Chief Secretary, and he assured us that the present system will continue. We are recognised as STs in Meghalaya, and we are equally sons of the soil. We should not be excluded from the list,” Hajong said.
He further highlighted another issue linked to the Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET). While candidates can only choose SC, ST, or General categories in the application form, the OMR sheet includes a separate option for OST (Other Scheduled Tribe). Some minority ST candidates selected OST, resulting in their answer sheets being rejected due to a mismatch.
An RTI inquiry later confirmed this discrepancy. Around 100 minority ST candidates are still waiting for their papers to be evaluated.
The Chief Secretary has assured the forum that this matter will also be addressed.
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