No oil deal signed with Assam, clarifies Nagaland government

KOHIMA: Amid criticisms from various quarters over the state government’s oil royalty sharing plan with Assam government, Nagaland legislators on Tuesday clarified that no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two states till date and the question of entering into an agreement does not arise.

Advisor of Information and Public Relations and Soil and Water Conservation, Imkong L Imchen, said that the oil royalty sharing of 50-50 was never proposed in the past.

However, a breakthrough had been made in principle and sharing 50-50 of the oil royalty was agreed upon, which was a “good sign”, according to the legislator.

He said a detailed mechanism of the royalty sharing is yet to be done.

The chief minister clearly stated during the meeting that there was no question of entering into MoU or having a bilateral agreement with ONGC at this point. Hence, no MOU has been entered upon till date, he added.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Power, KG Kenye, also said that initially, it was ‘misunderstood’ and people started saying that MoU was already inked.

‘The chief ministers of Nagaland and Assam deliberated, and certain aspects of the oil exploration were reached at, but it was not finalised and in no way it was an MoU,’ he said, adding that the government might not take a decision on the issue unilaterally.

He added that consultations are going on and it would try to reach unanimity at all costs.

‘But it has to be a tedious and slow process of consultations as the government cannot just brush aside whatever people have stated. State government will take the issues with people concerned,’ he said.

The matter was deliberated along with other pressing issues including Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), and the Village and Tribal Council Act of 1978 during the state government’s consultative meeting with tribal bodies and civil society organisations at the Chief Minister’s Residential Complex, Kohima on Tuesday.

RIIN cut-off date most ‘likely’ to be Dec. 1, 1963

Kenye said there is a proposal to shift the cut-off year for implementation of the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) from 1963 to 1979 as one state cannot have two cut-off dates.

However, he expressed confidence that December 1, 1963 will be the cut-off date but it would have categories and provisions.

‘The state government would certainly make concessions for those settlers who could not avail the indigenous certificates but had been residing in the state prior to the state formation,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Principal Secretary of Home, Abhijit Sinha said the department would soon issue a notification with regard to issuing of the indigenous certificates.

‘Recommendations have been discussed and it is almost finalised,’ he said.

They also discussed who would be given the certificates — the recognised tribes in Nagaland including the non-Naga tribes and residents of Nagaland before the statehood day.

‘It was also recommended that the other non-indigenous citizens, who had come before December 1, 1963, would be given permanent residence certificates,’ he added.

‘More or less, the consensus is there that we have to proceed in this manner except for the requirement of one or two feedback’, he said, adding that the cut-off year is yet to be finalised.

Imchen said before statehood, there were people who already settled in Dimapur. But until 1979, Dimapur was not included in the tribal belt and therefore inner line regulation could not be imposed until such time.

“Dimapur is flooded with illegal immigrants in a significant way but there are other genuine Indian citizens (of substantial number) who were already in Dimapur and have made their contributions in building the state.

“We cannot do injustice to these sections of people. So, if the cut-off year is finalised on December 1, 1963, then it will be doing an injustice to this section of people. They are also as good as citizens of Nagaland. Because of such compelling reasons, the state government decided to go for two datelines-1979 for the Dimapur district and 1963 for the rest of Nagaland,” he further added.

Nagaland Village and Area Councils Act not properly read

Sinha said the provisions in the Nagaland Village and Area Councils Act, 1978 are “very clear” but it was not ‘properly read’. This often resulted in taking decisions in a manner that weakened the traditional nature of these bodies, he said.

‘The Act has been there for a very long time and village council is the most important customary body in Nagaland. The Act provides detailed provisions on how to constitute and how to run with amendments made over the years. For example, the councils have to be constituted in a customary manner as per their customary practices and only indigenous Inhabitants can be the members (which was inserted last year). The major change in the Act was brought in 2009 when tribal council found a place in the Act,’ he said.

Some more suggestions were given during the meeting to which the department will look into, he added.

Formation of committee to draft new ULB Act under process

As for the ULBs, the tribal bodies and civil society organisations present during the meeting endorsed the government’s move of repealing the Municipal Act of 2001 and urged the state to constitute a panel to frame new rules soon.

The formation of a committee to draft the new rules is under process and will be finalised soon, it was further informed.

With regard to the Village Guard Association of Nagaland calling for peaceful protest over the pay enhancement issue, he said the government had requested them to not go ahead with the protest. Sinha said that an expert committee that has been formed on the High Court’s direction will take some time to finalise the recommendations and the next step will be taken.

‘The department reached out to the association and conveyed to them their best effort so that the expert committee gives suggestions as early as possible,’ he said, adding that the honorarium they receive comes from the Centre.

The consultative meeting was “fruitful” and “frank” with various stakeholders, tribal bodies and civil societies sharing their opinions on the issues, they said.

All the recognised tribes of Nagaland and other bodies attended the meeting.