DIMAPUR, JULY 13 (MExN): The Nagaland Senior Citizen’s Association (NSCA) has expressed serious concern that the Registration of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) exercise announced by the state government had the likelihood of being misused unless certain operational benchmarks are first strictly laid down with absolute clarity.
Giving its view on the exercise, the NSCA in a statement on Saturday said the government first need to clarify what record it is referring to when it says ‘based on official records’ in the matter of extensive survey at the village and urban level (Clause 2. of the notification No.CON-3/PAP/65/10; Dated Kohima the 29th June 2019; and at Clause 10 of the same notification for the Deputy Commissioner to adjudicate claims and objections) at the later stage.
The Association placed on record that the overwhelming majority of original Naga inhabitants of Nagaland do not constitute to be a real threat factor. Instead it is the minority sector of 'non-Nagas' and 'other Nagas' who settled in Nagaland before 1-12-1963 that calls for prioritizing RIIN exercise rather than unnecessarily compounding the problems by plunging the whole State into a mega exercise with the inclusion of the less questionable indigenous majority population of Nagaland through this cumbersome scrutiny, it stated.
In this connection, the Association referred to the criteria laid down by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Administrative Reform Branch) vide its Notification NO.AR-8/8/76: Kohima, the 28th April, 1977 that in order to qualify as an ‘Indigenous Inhabitants’ of the State of Nagaland for the purpose of employment as envisaged in the order No.APPT-18/6/67 dated 6-7-73, a person should have settled permanently in Nagaland prior to 1-12-1963.
It pointed out that this notification in question has neither been superseded nor nullified and is still relevant as a rational and fair benchmark for 'other Nagas' from elsewhere and 'non-Nagas' to qualify as indigenous inhabitants.
The Association therefore said these criteria must strictly remain as the guiding principle in the implementation of RIIN.
With the Cabinet having decided to extend ILP coverage in Dimapur, the Association also wondered why the government is in such a tearing hurry to implement RIIN over the general populace at this stage rather than focus on streamlining the colossal complexities concerning the non-local population that have settled in Nagaland after 1-12-1963.
While conceding the necessity of streamlining indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland for long term sanity, it noted that the RIIN exercise appears to be more of a “misplaced diversionary priority weighed against the circumstantial backdrop of qualifying the commercial hub of Dimapur as an ILP zone.”
The Association also viewed that the non-locals by all means should be given a fair opportunity to do business in their own names and pay income tax as is due by them. However it stated that the government must first identify the legitimate non-local inhabitants in the State who then must carry out their business in their own names in the future and be liable to fulfill their income tax responsibility to the State and Centre.
“In as far as the 'other Nagas' from beyond the state boundary is concerned,” the Association maintained that as long as they were settlers in Nagaland State before 1-12-1963, they should be given every legitimate rights due to them.
While warmly accepting 'other Nagas' as brothers in the matter of social co-existence, the Association said it would “grossly be selfish and unfair on their part to want to enjoy dual privileges from the State they geographically belong to as well as from the State of Nagaland.”
A clear strict line therefore needs to be drawn until such time the Indo-Naga political solution defines the final ground reality, it added.
In this connection, the Association has urged the government to call for an urgent public meeting with all the relevant NGOs at the earliest in order to streamline the operational yardsticks on a clear footing. Until this is done the present RIIN implementation should necessarily be put on hold, it stated.
