Reservation Row: 5 Tribes CoRRP to hold one-day protest despite Nagaland government’s appeal

KOHIMA — Even as the Government of Nagaland reiterated its commitment to address the state’s job reservation policy through institutional mechanisms and appealed to the Five Tribes Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP) to refrain from its planned agitation, the committee has confirmed it will proceed with a one-day sit-in protest on Wednesday.

The protest is scheduled to be held at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat, Kohima, starting at 9 am.

Read here: Nagaland: 5 Tribes CoRRP to resume agitation over reservation policy on July 9

In a press release issued through the DIPR on Tuesday, the state government said the matter had already been deliberated upon during a meeting on June 3,

chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister (Home), and attended by representatives from the CoRRP and the apex tribal bodies of the five tribes.

It stated that the issue was subsequently referred to the State Cabinet, which on June 12 decided “in principle” to constitute a commission to examine all aspects of the reservation policy in government employment. The Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) Department is currently pursuing the necessary follow-up action, the government stated.

Reiterating its appeal for restraint, the government urged the committee to allow the ongoing process to take its course.

However, speaking to Eastern Mirror, GK Zhimomi, member-secretary of the CoRRP, said that while the state government had reached out, the committee would go ahead as planned. “We are already prepared and will go ahead with the sit-in protest because we cannot call off at the last moment,” he said. He further added that the government's press release “does not address the main—core concern of the committee,” reiterating, “We will go ahead.”

Late Tuesday evening, the committee issued an update confirming that it would limit the protest to a one-day demonstration “honouring the request/appeal made by the State Government this evening.” However, it warned that the future course of action would depend on the state’s follow-through.

“We expect the State Government to honour its commitment of sitting across the table once the Hon’ble Chief Minister returns to the state within this week, failing which the agitations will intensify,” the committee stated.

The CoRRP, which includes representatives from five major Naga tribes—Angami, Ao, Lotha, Rengma, and Sumi—has been demanding that the government either scrap the 48-year-old reservation policy or allocate the unreserved quota to the five tribes.

In May, the committee launched the first phase of agitation but suspended it after a government assurance to examine the matter through a commission. Dissatisfied with the pace and clarity of the process, the committee decided on July 3 to resume agitation following a joint consultative meeting with the apex tribal bodies of the five tribes.

Read more: Reservation Row: 5 tribes launch multi-district protests in Nagaland

The government’s latest appeal comes ahead of the planned second phase of agitation.

Earlier on July 2, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had appealed for patience, stating that the commission set up to study the reservation policy has a comprehensive mandate and that reforms would be pursued after the national Census, which is scheduled for 2027. He also clarified that the government does not intend to make temporary adjustments but wants to resolve the issue “once and for all.”

On July 5, the committee had directed each tribe to mobilise a minimum number of participants for the protest: 1,000 from Angami, 500 each from Ao, Lotha, and Sumi, and 250 from Rengma. Constituent tribal bodies have been actively circulating mobilisation notices ahead of the protest.

Also read: Job Reservation Row: Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio urges patience, says reforms after Census