Chakhesang Public Organisation demands review of Nagaland job reservation policy

• 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its call for a total review of Nagaland’s Backward Tribes (BT) Reservation Policy, terming the decades-old framework “outdated” and inequitable.
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• 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.
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• The organisation emphasised that the review commission must comprise persons of specialisation in the subject with diverse expertise and transparency.
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• “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.

Also read: Reservation Row: Nagaland government given 15 days deadline to form commission

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• 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.
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• “Therefore, the BT reservation policy has suffered several casualties before achieving its objectives,” it added.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.”
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• 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)
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• 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%.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.”
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• 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.”
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• “These practices for several decades have given rise to huge gaps between the privileged and underprivileged sections in our society today,” it stated.