Dimapur, September 3 : The Naga Council of Dimapur has stated that the very fact about the issue of women reservation getting public attention reflected the recognition of women and their special abilities to ‘deliver the goods.’
Hence, the organization stated in a press release to the media on Saturday, the time has come for the community to adopt a system that would ‘accommodate’ women.
The organization admitted that the issue of women reservation had come to stay and ‘no doubt the issue will remain a point of controversy for a long time to come for various reasons.’
However, the issue reflects the recognition of women folk and their abilities, the organization admitted.
“And therefore, in whatever form we deem suitable to our context, Nagas must be ready to adopt its own system to accommodate women in governance till such time women reservation becomes an enforceable law with its own regulation,” the organization stated.
“Pending such laws, women reservation in the municipal and town council should be on the basis of nominating by certain percentage in all the administrative set up in Nagaland state,” it stated. “Accordingly, in recent time honourable chief minister T.R. Zeliang proposed 25% reservation with voting right should be implemented in true spirit, otherwise recent 33% reservation for women passed by state cabinet was pre-matured and not all the right time.”
Amid the ongoing debate about the implementation of the 33% women reservation in municipal bodies in Nagaland, the Naga Council said it had ‘reaffirmed its stand’ on the public resolution that was adopted on the 6th of October 2010. The resolution was submitted to the government of Nagaland on October 8, 2010, during the consultative meeting that was conducted under the aegis of the Nagaland government at Kisama village in Kohima, the press release stated.
Further, the organization stated that section-23A of the Municipal Act contradicted “the Naga customary law and practices, which supremacy has been granted by the article 371A of India constitution.”
Therefore, it added, section-23A should be repealed first by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.
“The amendment is necessitated in accordance to stand state government to preserve the constitutional implementation referred to Article-371 A,” the council added.
