Shillong, June 1: Following a detailed discussion by all the political parties of the State held on Wednesday, the government on Thursday constituted an expert committee to review the state reservation policy.

The development was informed by the Committee Chairperson and Cabinet Minister, Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh on Thursday.

“The government of Meghalaya today is pleased to announce a notification with regards to the state reservation policy and its discussion thereon. This notification succeeds from a detailed discussion with all political parties that was held yesterday. This discussion was taken up by the government of Meghalaya through a committee that was setup and notified to discuss the details of a proposal for the implementation of the state job reservation policy and to come out with a roster that we should strictly adhere to from here onwards,” said Dr Ampareen while speaking to reporters on Thursday.

She said the parties sent a strong recommendation to the committee on the need to constitute an Expert Committee that will study all aspects and observations of all the suggestions put forward by all the political parties on this matter.

Dr Ampareen, the chairperson of the committee, said it will be incorrect to believe that this matter is a matter of concern only for one or two stakeholders.

As per the notification, the Expert Committee will consist of experts in Constitutional Law, Economics, Sociology, Demographic Studies and related fields, which shall be notified by the Government of Meghalaya.

“The Expert Committee shall undertake a review of the State Reservation Policy by obtaining views from all stakeholders and by conducting field visits to all parts of the State,” reads the notification.

However, on the timeframe to set up the expert committee, the chairperson did not give a specific time or date but said, “So, we have said we will do it, how long will this take again will be something the government will be engaging in. I do not want to give a specific time frame because it will be incorrect. But, the public is keeping a watch and we hope we can complete this exercise as soon as possible.”

The Chairperson also urges all political parties to ‘normalise’ their approach on the matter. “Send us in writing, substantiate your views so the committee can accurately discuss this matter with the suggestions put forward by the parties,” she said.

She urged all political parties to submit their written suggestions on the matter within a period of 15 days.

“We have requested all political parties to prepare their suggestions, omissions, cancellations, deletions with substantial legal footing as we can always suggest whatever we want but we need to also make sure that we clear the legal scrutiny as the state political parties are mandated to review with condition that there will be no obstruction or scrutiny that will result negatively for the government,” she informed.

“Therefore, we will summarise all of our discussions and forward them to the government. But pending hard copy submission with legal justification (by the political parties), (it is) unlikely this committee can meet and discuss anything,” she added.

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