The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has been urging the Meghalaya government to order all Central government offices and institutions to reserve 44 per cent of vacancies for members of Scheduled Tribes (STs) when it comes to recruiting for roles in Group C and D categories.
Roy Kupar Synrem, president, HYC, has highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions had issued office memorandums (OMs) in the past — specifically 2005, 2007 and 2022— directing all Central government organizations to reserve 44 per cent jobs for STs in the C and D group categories. However, the OM has not been followed or complied with.
With regard to the direct recruitment to posts in the C and D category groups, the OM had clearly provided for revision of the quantum of reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The reservation was supposed to be one per cent for SCs, five per cent for OBCs and 44 per cent for STs.
However, this provision is not being followed, depriving indigenous youth, from the tribal communities, of jobs in the Central government.
The Council has also drawn attention to the fact that no special courts exist for trying cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. This causes frustrating delays in trials preventing the witnesses and citizens, in general, from helping the State in its war against drugs.
The HYC has also been attempting to pressurize the State government into implementing the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 (PIT-NDPS Act).