Shillong: The Voice of the People Party (VPP) Chief and MLA from Nongkrem, Ardent M Basaiawmoit on Monday said that the problem is with the reservation policy and not with the roster system and suggested that the government should put on-hold the implementation of the roster system in the state.
“When we decide to raise the issue on roster system, we don’t have any intention or ill feelings against any particular community and I would like to express clearly that we are not against the roster system but however we want that the government should put on hold the implementation of roster system appending the review of the reservation policy”, said Ardent while addressing the floor of the house on Monday.
“We have the problem with the reservation policy not with the roster system”, he added.
Referring the issue as “sensitive”, the VPP chief said that as legislators they have to be very careful and to deal with the issue with utmost care.
“We have to be very careful and we have to deal with the issue with utmost care, even the words would be very important for us to understand because we don’t want to hurt the sentiments of any particular community, we don’t want to take away the rights of that particular community and we don’t want our rights to be compromised”, said Ardent.
Taking a dig a particular “political party” who have been the partner of the NPP led MDA government for 5 years, Ardent said, “We don’t believe in the politics of hatred, a communal politics, a politics of self centred not like those political parties who have squarely blamed the leader of a particular community for all the wrongdoings of the government after being partnered with them in the entire term”.
The Deputy Chief Minister has rightly said that after March 2, they will come to us and we will make them sit in the roof of the bus which exactly have done it, said Ardent while further taking a dig at a particular “political party”.
The VPP leaders further stated that the decisions of leaders who fixed the reservation policy with 40% for the Khasi- Jaiñtia, 40% for the Garo and 20% for others was done “thoughtlessly” and “hurriedly”.
“The rush on the part of the Khasi leaders to agree on this agreements perhaps was due to the fear that there dream of a statehood may not be materialist or maybe they have overlooked the difference in the size of the population”, he said.
