Dimapur, October 24 : Reacting to independent MLA Thomas Ngullie’s statement that appeared in local dailies, the CMO said he appears to be lost in his own world detached from reality and making ridiculous statements just for the sake of grabbing ephemeral headlines in the local media.
“His statement that the Chief Minister has over-ridden the Constitution of India and has taken unilateral decisions regarding the Women Reservation issue is simply absurd, and it is absolutely unbecoming of a legislator to ever make such an allegation,” the CMO said in a release on Wednesday.
To set the records straight, the release stated that the Nagaland Legislative Assembly had passed the Municipal & Town Councils Act way back in 2001 when Ngullie himself was a minister in the Jamir-led Congress ministry. “If he is so opposed to the Bill, why did he maintain his silence when the Bill was passed in the first place? Could it be that he was so scared or wanted to hold on to his ministerial berth so badly that muted him when the Bill was laid in the House and passed? Whatever the case, Mr Ngullie seems to have woken up rather late in the day,” the CMO said.
Pointing out that the Assembly amended that Act in 2006 and inserted the 33% clause as passed by the Parliament, the CMO said but owing to opposition of the same by various tribal organisations, the Government set up a Select Committee to look into the matter. The Chief Minister, who was then the Minister in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, headed that Committee which recommended for passing of a Resolution by the Assembly to frame our own laws as per the requirements and wishes of the public for the conduct of Municipal and Town Council Act in 2012, it added. “However, the Naga Mothers’ Association (JAC) went to court against the resolution and the matter had dragged on without an early resolution in sight,” the CMO stated.
It also explained that in the meantime, the Government had tried various formulas to appease the women and to work out a via media so that the elections to the urban local bodies could be held without further delay. “The women groups stuck to their stand and it appeared that the legal battle could have dragged on for years,” it stated.
According to the CMO, far from a unilateral decision of the Chief Minister as alleged by the MLA, it was the considered and deliberated decision of the Cabinet to hold elections to the ULBs with 33% reservation for women as accepted earlier by the Government in 2006. “The decision is not a political gimmick for the masses, as alleged by the Honourable MLA, but a necessity to ensure good governance at the local levels,” it maintained.
“And at no point of time has the Chief Minister or the Cabinet attempted to over ride the provisions of the Constitution and the privileges given to the people of Nagaland, as obnoxiously stated by the Honourable MLA,” the CMO said adding that the State Government has only upheld the decisions taken by the governments headed by learned and respected Chief Ministers in the past under the leadership of Dr SC Jamir in 2001 and Neiphiu Rio in 2006.
The CMO also wanted that if the MLA is so concerned about the provisions of Article 371 (A), he should try to convince his community which had challenged the resolution of the State Government in the matter regarding Petroleum and Natural Gas in the court of law to withdraw their PIL in the High Court since it has imperiled the very constitutional safeguards for the State and people of Nagaland, that he is talking about.
“The Honourable MLA, instead of hibernating in the wilderness, would do well to interact more often with his colleagues and get to know the ground realities instead of shooting his head off in the media belittling himself in the eyes of his colleagues and constituents. He, Mr Ngullie, may not know what is being discussed in the DAN Legislature meetings because he always avoids such meetings for reasons known only to him,’ the CMO said.”
