DIMAPUR — The
Chakhesang Public Organisation (CPO) has renewed its call for a total review of
Nagaland’s Backward Tribes (BT) Reservation Policy, terming the decades-old
framework “outdated” and inequitable.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the organisation
asserted that the current policy has failed to serve its intended purpose and
now perpetuates disparities. It demanded the state government constitute an “independent
commission with maximum autonomy” to reassess the reservation policy introduced
in 1977.
The organisation emphasised that the review commission must
comprise persons of specialisation in the subject with diverse expertise and
transparency.
“The parameters of such a review should include all the
existing tribes, including the unreserved tribes of Nagaland, to bring out the
required benchmark or yardstick based on the existing statistics and latest
population data in consonance with the tribe-wise employment up-to-date
figures, along with intensive economic survey reports to provide an authentic
standard reference point to determine the up-to-date status of post-reservation
and redefine the existing categories to provide fair and proportionate reservation
under the policy,” the statement read.
According to the CPO, successive governments failed to
uphold the original policy’s mandate for periodic review. It noted that
committees such as the Banuo Z Jamir Committee (2007), Khrielie Kevichusa
Committee (2008), and Temjen Toy Committee (2010) were constituted in the past,
but their findings were never tabled before the Assembly for review or
amendment.
“Therefore, the BT reservation policy has suffered several
casualties before achieving its objectives,” it added.
The CPO expressed concern over the state’s current roster
policy and recruitment guidelines, arguing that they lack merit-based
considerations essential for selecting the most qualified candidates for public
service. It said that the absence of cut-off marks in recruitment exams has
adversely impacted the quality of government employees.
Additionally, the organisation pointed out that the rigid
application of the roster system has, in some instances, prevented the
Recruitment Commission from appointing technically qualified candidates,
particularly when no suitable applicants are available from a reserved tribe.
This, the CPO contended, has resulted in an indefinite backlog of vacancies in
certain departments.
Citing data from the Census of India and state employment
records (PIMS), the CPO pointed out that Chakhesangs, with a population of
approximately 1,54,874, fall behind in the population-to-employment ratio,
occupying 8% of the state’s population but only 6.27% of government jobs. The
community, which received a 4% reservation share as of 2011, trails behind many
smaller tribes in employment percentages, it said, terming it a “brutal
violation of reservation policy by the arbitrary roster policy devoid of
meritocracy.”
In comparison, the five unreserved tribes—Ao, Sumi, Angami,
Lotha, and Rengma—with a combined population of 8,40,732, holds 54% of
government jobs in the state. (See Table)
Meanwhile, other backward tribes, such as the Konyaks, with
a population of 2,37,568, hold 6.04% of state jobs. Khiamniungans account for
2.03%, Changs 2.29%, Yimkhiungs 2.55%, and Zeliangs 2.60%.
The CPO contended that this disparity demonstrates not only
the under-representation of Chakhesangs—despite availing job reservation for
decades—but also reflects structural inequities that the current reservation
and recruitment policies have failed to address.
Further, the CPO criticised the exclusion of Chakhesang
tribe from the Directorate of Underdeveloped Areas (DUDA), although several
pockets in the district, particularly the Tizü range, were projected as the
most backward and remote areas in the state. Except for the job reservation
benefits, the community was also left out of schemes such as the Backward
Region Grant Fund and the Border Area Fund extended to both BT and some
advanced tribes.
The organisation also called attention to perceived
structural problems within the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC),
alleging that the body has, in its 59 years of its existence, “suffered
inequitable representation and had failed to maintain tribal parity in its
composition.”
Stating that Nagaland is known for “backdoor, ad hoc,
contract, and various contingency appointments” that are eventually
regularised, the CPO claimed that “such appointments are at the disposal of the
privileged authorities at the helm of state affairs, mostly belonging to the
advanced communities.”
“These practices for several decades have given rise to huge
gaps between the privileged and underprivileged sections in our society today,”
it stated.
