Student to hold signature campaign on Jan 29, demanding govt to review state reservation policy

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJanuary 27, 2022

An agriculture student on Thursday announced holding of a signature campaign on January 29 for pressurizing the state government to review the state reservation policy to ensure equal distribution among the three tribes – Khasi, Jaintia and Garo in the state. 

Addressing a news conference, Barry Pyngrope said the signature campaign will be held at Mawkhar Taxi Stand in Shillong even as she urges people from all communities including NGOs to support the cause. 

“My demand (through the campaign) is for the government to listen to us that the reservation policy has to be equally distributed (among the three tribes),” Pyngrope said. 

According to him, there is unequal distribution among the three tribes at present as 40 percent is being given to Garo community alone while 40 percent for the Khasi and Jaintia tribes. 

The student of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS), Allahabad, also maintained that the campaign is not a fight against any community but it is against the government for haveing a slow response despite seeing the increase in the population of the two tribes.

“Many Garo students who are coming forward supporting our cause they say this is nothing communal (as) this is something which will ensure healthy competition for students,” Pyngrope claimed.

She further asserted that the Khasi-Jaintia population is too much so the policy cannot continue the same as many potential candidates are missing the opportunities.

Pyngrope admitted that the demand is not new as there has been leaders who have taken up the issue but nothing positive came up due to the lack of political will on the part of the state government. 

“This reservation policy has been going on for 50 years enough is enough…the youth is behind me as I  have no political agenda, I am just an agriculture student. The government will have to listen to us,” she said.

Stating that it is a fact that there is Khasi, Jaintia and Garo, Pyngrope however said, “…the previous generation leaders, the population of Khasi and Jaintia was so little that they thought we dont need a separation reservation – we are two tribes of course but we didn’t need separate reservation because the population was small but now knowing the fact that we are two distinct tribes there is no issue in that but we see the population is too much (growing) we have to now separate the reservation policy percentage.”