Morung Express News
Dimapur/Kohima | February 6
The Government of Nagaland has introduced a new criterion for the recognition of new villages in the State – a minimum area requirement.
The minimum area required for the recognition of a new village is set at 1,000 acres, according to an Office Memorandum (OM) issued by the Home Department General Administration Branch-I, dated February 4, 2025.
This new condition is in addition to the existing guidelines outlined in two previous OMs dated March 22, 1996, and October 1, 2005, and is in line with the State Cabinet's approval conveyed in a letter dated January 22, 2025, it said.
It further clarified that all other conditions or criteria specified in 1996 and 2005 OMs will remain unchanged.
The February 5 OM also stated that the Land Records & Survey Department will serve as the verifying agency.
Accordingly, the District Administrations were instructed to ensure strict adherence to all criteria or conditions mentioned in the OMs when forwarding village recognition cases to the Commissioner Nagaland.
The Commissioner Nagaland shall then examine the proposals before forwarding them to the Government, it added.
What are the other Criteria?
The most comprehensive guidelines for the recognition of new villages are provided in the March 22, 1996, OM, which modified another issued on July 20, 1987, with immediate effect.
As per the modification, a new village should have a minimum of 50 houses, with no fewer than 250 people.
Further, it specified that there should be sufficient land for both the expansion of the village and agricultural purposes.
This land requirement is now set at 1000 acres.
It is also stipulated that only indigenous inhabitants can constitute a new village.
A new village formed by members of more than one village must obtain a 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) from the Village Council Chairman (VCC) of the parent village, indicating the boundaries of the new village, it said.
If the new village is constituted by members from more than one village in a different location but within the ancestral land of the parent village, an NOC must be obtained from the VCC of the parent village, indicating the boundaries of the new village, it added.
In cases where exact boundary demarcations cannot be defined due to scattered pockets of land, the VCC and all the Goan Buras (GBs) of the parent village should determine the boundaries in a manner acceptable to both villages, the 1996 OM stated.
If the GBs are appointed and function as the constitutional heads of the village, they must jointly sign the NOC with the VCC, it added.
The guidelines also require the entire area of the newly established village to be surveyed jointly by competent staff from the Land Records & Survey and civil administration to clearly demarcate and map the village territory. The area must also be recorded in hectares.
Pillars must be erected by the new village upon completion of the boundary demarcation process with neighbouring villages or the parent village, as well as the survey, it provided.
For the establishment of new villages, clearances from the Forest Department (issued by an officer not below the rank of DFO) and a Class-I Magistrate are required.
The NOC from neighbouring village(s) must also be countersigned by an Administrative Officer, and administrative approval must come from an officer not below the rank of SDO(C).
"No approval is required from extra-constitutional bodies such as students' unions or tribal hohos," the 1996 OM underscored.
Additional criteria after 1996
In addition to the 1996 OM, further OMs have been issued over the years, introducing new guidelines.
These included the October 1, 2005, OM, which stated that “all cases related to the recognition of new villages in Nagaland shall henceforth, with immediate effect, require a public notice to be issued by the Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned.”
The notice must specify the area of land or the boundaries of the village proposed for recognition and allow 30 days for the submission of any objections, it said.
All other conditions or criteria laid out in the 1996 OM remain unchanged.
The Home Department also reminded that any proposal for village recognition without meeting the prescribed conditions will be rejected.
Though not mentioned in the latest February 4 OM, an earlier OM dated October 22, 2014, stated that “all cases for the recognition of new villages in border areas, particularly those in the Assam-Nagaland border areas, must have clearance from the Border Affairs Department with immediate effect.”
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