Five leading Naga tribes oppose Nagaland govt’s stand on job quotas

Kohima, Aug 7 (IANS) The 5 Tribes Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP), which has been agitating in Nagaland for the past several months demanding a review of the state’s job reservation policy, on Thursday rejected the state cabinet decision to constitute a 7-member Job Reservation Commission (JRC).

An official statement said that the state cabinet, in its meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, on Wednesday, has approved the constitution of a 7-member JRC, which would be headed by a person with integrity and administrative experience from retired senior IAS officers of the Nagaland cadre.

The Commission would include one member each from the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO), the Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC), and the Tenyimi Union Nagaland (TUN) and three official members — the administrative head of the Political and Administrative Reforms Department, the Home Commissioner, and the administrative head of Law and Justice Department.

Criticising the Nagaland cabinet’s decision, the CoRRP termed it a “repetition” of the June 12 resolution that failed to address the committee’s core demands regarding the Backwards Tribe (BT) reservation issue.

The committee, in a statement, expressed its strong discontent over the government’s decision about the composition of the Reservation Review Commission, which now includes civil society organisations such as the CNTC, the ENPO, and the TUN.

“Inclusion of these CSOs reflects a partisan approach and fails to genuinely engage with the concerns raised by the 5 Tribes CoRRP demanding a review of the state’s 48-year-old reservation policy,” the statement said.

The CoRRP said that it would soon hold a joint meeting with the apex bodies of the five tribes involved to decide on the next course of action.

The Naga bodies claimed that the job reservation policy, which has been in place for the past 48 years (since 1977), no longer reflects the current socio-economic and educational realities of the various communities in Nagaland.

In support of their demand, the Naga bodies organised two phases of agitation – first on May 29 in the form of protest rallies across multiple district headquarters and in the second phase on July 9, thousands of people from the 5 Naga tribes attired in traditional dresses staged a protest outside the Civil Secretariat.

Primarily, 25 per cent reservation was allocated for seven tribes in non-technical and non-gazetted posts for a period of 10 years. These tribes were designated as ‘backward’ based on educational and economic disadvantages, and limited representation in state services.

Over the years, the reservation has increased to 37 per cent, comprising 25 per cent for seven Eastern Nagaland backward tribes and 12 per cent for four other backward tribes of the state.

The CoRRP comprises five Naga tribe organisations — the Angami Public Organisation, the Ao Senden, the Lotha Hoha, the Rengma Hoho, and the Sumi Hohoon, representing the five major tribes — Ao, Sumi, Lotha, Rengma, and Angami — and they have been demanding a review of the state’s reservation policy, which they describe as “imbalanced and outdated”.

–IANS

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