Nagaland govt reconstitutes panel to review reservation policy

Kohima, Oct 16 (PTI) The Nagaland government has restructured the committee tasked with reviewing the state’s reservation policy, following fresh representations from tribal bodies seeking a more neutral and administrative approach to the process.

The new committee will now be led entirely by senior government officials and has also been renamed as the Reservation Review Committee, government Spokesperson K G Kenye said.

He said that the earlier composition of the committee included tribal or block-wise representatives but following the discontentment of the five-tribes Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP), it has been revised with inclusion of senior government officials and renaming it as the Commission for Review of Reservation.

“After the last memorandum and submissions made by the five tribes, Ao, Angami, Lotha, Rengma and Sumi that tribal or block-wise representatives should not be there but replaced by exclusively senior government officials we have rectified that,” Kenye stated.

He said that the reconstituted committee will be headed by former Development Commissioner, R. Ramakrishna, while the ex-officio members will include senior officers from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR), Law and Justice Department, and the Home Commissioner’s Office, while the Commissioner & Secretary, P&AR, will serve as the Member Secretary.

The panel will have six months from the date of appointment to complete its review and submit recommendations to the government, he said.

On the renaming of the Commission from Job Reservation Review to Commission for Review of Reservation, the spokesperson said the government acknowledges that it is not about job reservation, but involves so many other aspects.

He also said that ultimately it has to be in confluence with the National Census Exercise that is taking place.

“The government has listened to all sides,” Kenye said, expressing hope that the newly formed committee will “bring clarity, fairness, and finality” to a long-pending issue that has stirred both political and administrative debates in Nagaland.

The push to review Nagaland’s reservation policy intensified after the five tribal apex bodies under the banner of the 5-Tribes CoRRP submitted a joint memorandum to the state government.

They argued that the policy, which has been in place since 1977, no longer reflects the current socio-economic and educational realities of the various communities in the state.

Initially, 25 percent 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 percent for four other backward tribes of the state. PTI NBS NN