Of Permits and Licenses in Nagaland: Inner Line Permit, Pharmacy License and More

The recent unprecedented developments across Nagaland encouraged me to write this article, which otherwise has been looming large in my mind- on the issuance of permits, licenses, certificates and its consequences because the crux of the matter boils down to these issuance.

To drive home the good, the bad and the ugly side of uncensored issue of permits, licenses and certificates, I want to cite the example of livestock and Poultry transportation, slaughtering and selling which is a recurring issue in Nagaland. And so, whenever such issues crop up, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department is looked upon as the authority. In contrast, every department in Nagaland has a mandate and so work and functions under that ambit. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary department, being a service provider in animal healthcare, does not have the authority to issue permit or license ibid unless a competent authority empowers the department to do so through legislative order. At best, department can issue health and death certificate, that too by a qualified and registered veterinary doctor.

It is heartening that the government has decided to strictly implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP) which is the identity proof to show to the world that Nagas are protected people under the Indian Constitution. Unlike the issue of passport/visa, which is done by the Government of India, ILP issue, implementation and enforcement is with the state government and that is the safeguard. And for this reason, an ILP seeker has to find a guarantor who can only be a Naga. It is here where we need to be very cautious because no ILP seeker can obtain one without the knowledge and consent of the landowner and the house owner, both of which solely belongs to a Naga (unlike in Assam where more than fifty percent of the land belongs to the government). So, the onus lies with the landowner and is accountable for the successful implementation and enforcement. It is no secret that we are short of labour force in Nagaland and so temporary work permit can be incorporated in ILP to bridge this shortage.

I am raising this issue because Nagas by nature are simply gullible and credulous, and so with no qualms, any organisation will issue certificates, appreciation, recommendation et al. to anyone who comes seeking, which otherwise is reserved for those who have earned it. No wonder our dailies are filled with such news every day. An awakening to this was raised by one union in Kohima where they have detected anomalies in issue of taxi permit. Taxi permit is given to earn but because of these anomalies, some of the permits have become non-performing permit. A taxi can earn only if there are commuters and so permit should invariably tally with the likely numbers of commuters.

What is more disturbing is even the church is now involved in this tangle. I remember some years back when the Nagaland Baptist Church Council refused to accept Grant-in-Aid given by the government which is exemplary. There is clear mandate between spiritual healing and physical healing where spiritual healing works through the Holy Spirit. Whenever a doctor prescribes medicine, first he or she writes

,  which in Latin word is recipe, meaning ‘Take Thou.’ Physicians employ medicines for curing and healing and ask God for His healing power through the medicine.

A case study here is, because of devolution of powers down to the panchayat level, a goanbura (GB) is authorised to issue no objection certificates or other certificates. But a GB who is an administrative agent may not be the right person to endorse unrelated issues other than related to law and order. But for want of clear cut share of responsibility assigned, NOC on any subject will be issued as he will be coerced to do so.    

The lesson learnt here is, permit, license, certificate can only be issued by a competent authority. Competent authority means someone who has been authorised through official decree and so can justify and defend what he has issued in case of dispute, abuse or wrong doings. A classical example here is, human and veterinary pharmacy license issuing authority is the Drugs Controller under the Health and Family Welfare department. The competent issuing authority, i.e., the Drugs Controller has experts in pharmacology under him or her and so any misuse or violation of the license are checked by the experts and rectified. And to acquire a pharmacy license, there is standard procedure where, besides others, the applicant should be at least a holder of diploma in pharmacology and for veterinary pharmacy a registered degree holder who should be either unemployed or retired. The Veterinary Council of India provides a Standard Operational Guidelines for establishment of veterinary clinic, nursing home, animal welfare centers, hospital for the states to refer and abide by the guidelines.

Today, when we scan around the signage, dashboard, hoardings etc., in the towns, we see a lot of high-end displays and advertisements. A supposed to be vocational training centre is displayed as training centre, a training centre as institution, an institution as research centre, and goes on. For all these, there is a standard operating criteria, and after fulfilling the criteria only, permit or license is issued. For example, a research centre should have a separate research wing with a research team and the research findings should be published in journals and magazines periodically for public benefit.

This write up is a recourse to the wishful and unethical usage of  permits and licenses which otherwise is misleading the public and with this trend increasing more every passing day, it is time competent authority evolve a system to address  these issues.

Dr. N. Mhonchan Shitiri,

Former Registrar,

Nagaland State Veterinary Council.