Shillong, April 4: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) on Tuesday asked the state government to implement the roster system ‘prospectively’.

“The stand of the KSU is that the government should not implement the roster system right from 1972. If they implement the roster system retrospectively, this will affect our people in terms of job employment. Therefore, the roster system should be implemented prospectively,” KSU chief Lambokstarwell Marngar told reporters after the general executive council (GEC) meeting of the union.

This also came a day after the Meghalaya High Court had made it very clear that how far back the roster system would be made applicable, these are policy matters that are best left to the legislature and the executive of the state.

Marngar said that the state government is yet to take a decision as to from where it should start implementing the roster system as some of the ministers had recently informed in the just concluded Assembly’s budget session that filling up of the vacant posts could not be done due to the roster system not yet in place.

He also said that many may say that the KSU is keeping quiet on the issue but that is not true as the union was doing its own consultation with experts on the subject matter. “Moreover, this is not only the issue of the KSU that we take decision alone as it is a matter of life and death of our people. Therefore, we cannot take decision in a haste,” Marngar said.

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Further, the KSU chief asked the newly elected legislators to take up the issue very seriously.

“People have voted for them to be legislators so is it not their duty to take up this issue very seriously? If the government empowers the KSU, we can immediately take the decision right away on this matter. However, we are making our stand clear before the newly elected representatives that they should do what is in the best interest of the people,” he said while adding that the legislators should take full responsibility if any law and order situation arises out of this issue.

When asked, Marngar said that the roster system came following a petition before the Meghalaya High Court which found that there was no roster system put in place since 1972 but the state government cannot take shelter on this and it should ensure that the roster system be implemented prospectively.

“If the government says that the roster system should be right from 1972 it means there is something behind it and this will surely affect the employment of our people,” he said.

He also warned that the KSU will take its own course of action if the government considers to implement the roster system retrospectively.