DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 2 (MExN): The Phomching Area Students’ Union (PASU) has extended support to the Konyak Students’ Union in its demand for the Nagaland Government to review and reform the state’s job reservation policy based on population ratio in order to ensure equitable justice.
In a statement 1, PASU pointed out that the Konyak tribe, despite being one of the largest tribes in the state, remains historically disadvantaged and continues to face high levels of unemployment among educated youth. The union highlighted that although the literacy rate among the Konyaks is comparatively low, the rate of educated unemployed is the highest in the state.
“This prevailing reality questions the accountability of the existing job reservation policy and its impact,” PASU stated. It noted that while the main objective of the policy is to uplift backward communities, its failure to address systemic disparities has instead resulted in further marginalisation of several tribes, including the Konyaks.
“The main objective of the reservation policy is to uplift the backward communities, and we have been witness to its impacts on the Naga society as a whole. However, the failure of the policy to address systematic disparities and to provide equitable opportunities has resulted in marginalizing several backward communities including the Konyak tribe,” the union asserted.
PASU urged the state government to take their concerns seriously and initiate necessary reforms to reflect the demographic realities of the state. “Therefore, the PASU strongly urges the state government to take our plight into consideration and to thereby review and reform the existing job reservation policy by reflecting on the demographic realities of the state to further promote social inclusion and to ensure fair and just distribution of opportunities,” it said.
