Shillong: With a call for the review of 40:40 reservation of jobs between the Khasis and the Garos opposition party Voice of People’s Party (VPP) led by its chief Ardent Basaiawmoit started an indefinite hunger strike and it entered the 8th day on Tuesday.

Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar said that the government will take a call on this matter once the chief minister of Meghalaya Conrad Sangma returns to the state.

Basaiawmoit is demanding for the review of 1972 job reservation policy of Meghalaya government. The doctors who attended Basaiawmoit today said that he has become very weak but his condition is stable.

“Our stand was made clear before the government. If the government is still adamant, I will not leave this place until the government decides to review the present job reservation policy,” the VPP chief said.

“We are saying that the reservation should be proportionate and it can be done on the basis of the population of the state,” the VPP leader added further.

“The issue is sensitive and needed to be discussed at length, however, it should not be discussed in the streets but across the table,” said Dhar. However, Dhar also took a dig at the VPP supremo for not attending the all-party meet called by Sangma on last Tuesday.

“If he had attended the all-party meeting he could have shared his views on the matter,” Dhar observed. Since 1972, 40 per cent of the state government jobs are reserved for the Garo and Khasi communities each. Another five per cent is reserved for other tribes residing in the state while the remaining 15 per cent are for the general category.

The VPP has been seeking a review of the policy asserting that it is unfair to the Khasi tribe, the population of which has outnumbered that of the Garos over the years. The present policy needs a relook as the population of Khasis consisting of subtribes Jaintias, Wars, Bhois and Lyngngams is higher than the Garo people, it said.

According to the 2011 census, over 14.1 lakh Khasis live in Meghalaya while the number of Garo people is a little over 8.21 lakh. So, this policy is “unfair and outdated”, the VPP president had said.

According to the VPP president, he is not against the rights of the Garos to government jobs and he is only demanding an “impartial” job reservation policy.

Dhar, however, said that the government will decide what is in the best interest of the people and the state. He also said that the VPP with 4 MLAs is raking an issue whereas 56 other MLAs understand the magnanimity of the issue, adding that other parties do not support the VPP.