Kohima, October 24 (MExN): The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) today stated that MLA Thomas Ngullie’s statement that the Chief Minister has over-ridden the Constitution of India and taken unilateral decisions regarding the 33% women reservation is “simply absurd, and it is absolutely unbecoming of a legislator to ever make such an allegation.”
The Media Cell of CMO in a rejoinder said that the Nagaland Legislative Assembly had passed the Municipal & Town Council Act way back in 2001 when Thomas himself was a Minister. “If he (Thomas) is so opposed to the Bill, why did he maintain his silence when the Bill was passed in the first place? Could it be that he was so scared or wanted to hold on to his ministerial berth so badly that muted him when the Bill was laid in the House and passed?” the CMO questioned.
It further recounted that in 2006, the Assembly amended that Act and INSERT IGNOREed the 33% clause as passed by the Parliament. But owing to opposition of the same by various tribal organisations, the Government set up a Select Committee to look into the matter. "The Chief Minister, who was then the Minister in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, headed that Committee which recommended for passing of a resolution by the Assembly to frame our own laws as per the requirements and wishes of the public for the conduct of Municipal and Town Council Act in 2012," it said. However, the Naga Mothers’ Association went to Court against the resolution and the matter had dragged on without an early resolution in sight, the rejoinder added.
“In the meantime, the Government had tried various formulas to appease the women and to work out a via media so that the elections to the Urban Local Bodies could be held without further delay. The women groups stuck to their stand and it appeared that the legal battle could have dragged on for years. And far from a unilateral decision of the Chief Minister as alleged by the MLA, it was the considered and deliberated decision of the Cabinet to hold elections to the ULBs with 33% reservation for women as accepted earlier by the Government in 2006,” the CMO continued. It reaffirmed that the decision is not a political gimmick for the masses, as alleged by the MLA, but a necessity to ensure good governance at the local levels.
“And at no point of time has the Chief Minister or the Cabinet attempted to over ride the provisions of the Constitution and the privileges given to the people of Nagaland, as obnoxiously stated by the MLA,” the CMO asserted. The State Government, it said, has only upheld the decisions taken by the Governments headed by “learned and respected” Chief Ministers in the past under the leadership of Dr SC Jamir in 2001 and Neiphiu Rio in 2006.
