Zeliang Students' Union Nagaland opposes scrapping of reservation policy

DIMAPUR — In response to the recent call by five tribal apex bodies to scrap the Backward Tribes (BT) reservation policy, the Zeliang Students' Union Nagaland (ZSUN) has vehemently opposed abolishing the existing framework, citing facts, legal precedents, and ground realities.

In a press release on Tuesday, the ZSUN stated that while the BT reservation policy was introduced in 1977 with intention to uplift underrepresented and backward tribes, it was grossly misapplied and neglected for many years, especially in Grade-III and Grade-IV government appointments.

According to ZSUN, recruitment processes in the past had been manipulated, overlooking reservation rosters and appointing candidates in “clear violation of the policy.”

“No effective monitoring of roster implementation was enforced until recent interventions by the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) and Departmental Recruitment Boards, where the BT reservation policy has only now begun to be operationalised correctly.”

While maintaining that the union was not opposed to a review of the policy, it emphasised that any such review must be grounded in data and undertaken through a comprehensive statistical study.

Also read: PSU opposes review of backward tribe reservation policy in Nagaland

“This study should examine the representation of BTs across all departments (Grade I to IV), socio-economic and educational indicators of BT communities, and data collected through RTI and other sources,” it argued.

According to the data, the Zeliang tribe consists of 3.80% (74,877) of the state's total population and occupies 3.10% (3,220) of the total state government employees, the union stated.

“This is rather surprising that 4 % is being reserved for the Zeliang tribe under the BT reservation, yet we are just about 3 per cent of the total Government employees till date.”

The ZSUN also pointed out that RTI data revealed a stark underrepresentation of Zeliang employees in 15 major departments: only 18 Zeliang employees (1.35%) held Group D posts out of 1,331, and merely four Zeliang employees (1.26%) were drivers out of 316.

“Analysis of NSSB exam results since inception revealed that out of 1226 posts, 49 Zeliang candidates (4%) were selected through BT reservation and only 3 (0.24%) could be selected through unreserved category. Similarly, in NPSC (since 2010), out of 3467 posts, 120 Zeliang candidates (3.46%) were selected through BT reservation and only 22 (0.63%) could be selected through unreserved category.

“This indicates that, without BT reservation, Zeliang tribe would have got only 3 out of 1226 posts (0.24%) and 22 out of 3467 posts (0.63%) in NSSB and NPSC (since 2010) respectively,” the union stated.

The union went to state that Article 335 of the Indian Constitution underscores the need for consideration of SCs and STs in matters of appointments, ensuring inclusivity in governance.

“The five tribes opposing the current policy already benefit from central reservations under the same provisions. It is ironic that while benefiting from central quotas, they seek to dismantle state-level affirmative action, further marginalising already backward tribes,” it stated.

Additionally, the union maintained that Article 16(4) of the Indian Constitution empowers the state to reserve appointments for classes of citizens that are not adequately represented in government services.

“The reservation policy for BTs was never intended as a permanent privilege but as a temporary corrective measure to bridge historical gaps in representation. It is important to note that politically, Peren district is being represented by two MLAs only with a population of 95,219, with one MLA representing 47,609 population, whereas in some districts of the state, one MLA represents 20,000 population only approximately.”

Given the constitutional basis of affirmative action policies, the ZSUN asserted that the demand to revoke the BT reservation policy is unfounded.

Further, to address the issues, the union recommended rejection of demand to scrap the policy; comprehensive study on BT representation and development; retention and strengthening of the policy through proper implementation; and setting up of a review commission to reform, not abolish, the policy.