Lolano P. Khuvung, DIPR
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter a marathon meeting held on 26th Sept 2014 during the second session of the consultative meet convened by the Government of Nagaland on the issue of Nagaland liquor Prohibition Act with the participation of tribal Hohos, civil societies, NGOs and others the following Resolution was passed. The Resolutions passed is reproduced below:
Resolution passed at the Consultative Meeting of Government of Nagaland with the Tribal Hohos, NGOs and Civil Societies on the issue of implementation of the NLTP Act 1989 on the 26th September 2014 at SIRD Hall Kohima:
Whereas the Government of Nagaland is desirous of examining the matter of implementation of the NLTP Act 1989, in view of the fact that 25 years have now elapsed since its introduction without a review having been carried out so far, and the Government of Nagaland is of the view that in the face of the changed situations and circumstances, there appears to be sufficient justification to have the matter re-examined in the context of the existing realities;And whereas the Government of Nagaland deems it necessary to hold detailed deliberations with the Hohos, NGOs and Civil Societies to derive a consensus and resolve differences of opinion and concerns that may exist on the above subject matter;
Now this August gathering of Ministers, MLAs, Hohos, Public Leaders, NGOs and Civil Societies after detailed deliberations and after careful consideration of all issues related and after having taken into account the issue and concerns raised, do hereby resolve the following:
1. The meeting has brought out differing and opposing views on the matter of continuation of total prohibition or lifting of total prohibition in the following manner:
(a) Some parties have expressed strong concerns and objected to any move to lift prohibition and instead recommended that the Act as well as the Excise Department be strengthened and made more effective.
(b) Some groups are in favour of lifting of Prohibition on the ground that the choice of food and drink lie with the individual.
(c) All members and stakeholders present are of the unanimous view that the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act has failed to achieve its objectives;
(d) All members and stake holders present are of the unanimous view that the Act and its implementation need to be reviewed;
2. In view of the above views and opinions, the meeting hereby agree and decide that the State Government may set up an Expert Committee to study in detail the entirety of issues relating to the implementation of the Act and submit its findings and suggestions to the Government.
3. The Committee may also carry out studies of implementation of prohibition in other States of the country and their experiences as well as the outcome of such policies, and list out in detail the factors that favours as well as oppose lifting of total prohibition for further examination of the Government and consultations with civil societies before taking a final decision.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Chief Minister of Nagaland T.R. Zeliang after a patient hearing on the views, suggestions and opinions on the issues of Nagaland Special Development Zone (NSDZ) Nagaland Investment Board (NIB) and Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act presented by the Tribal Hohos, NGOs , Civil Societies and others during the State level Consultative Meeting at Kohima on 26th September 2014, gave his concluding remarks and clarified on the issues raised by various speakers. .
Referring to former chief minister K.L.Chishi’s stand that Government is by the people and for the people Zeliang re-affirmed that the Government of the day stands with the principle of democracy.
On the issue of NSDZ the chief minister maintained that it would not affect the rights of the landowners and assured that any point in the resolution that infringes on Article 371 (A) would be re-looked and rectified. Describing NSDZ as still a vision paper and for which the consultative meet was held for exchanging views and opinions, Zeliang assured to incorporate the view points of the various groups by constituting a committe for in-depth study. “Any point of Resolution passed in the Assembly on 24th March 2014, which infringes on the rights of the people or Article 371 (A) will be re-looked and after rectification the Government intends to constitute a Committee to study and formulate the Rules,” he stated.
Reacting to the views on cadastral survey, Zeliang explained that conducting the survey was not to take away land from the landowners but to demarcate the boundary line of village to village or district to district and also to enable the landowners to mortgage their lands to banks etc for obtaining loans.
On the need for reviewing the Inner Line Permit (ILP) T.R.Zeliang clarified that the Government was not scrapping the ILP but only relaxing it for the businessen to get relaxation of six months instead of 15 days. The relaxation will not be blanket but conditional to creation of wealth in favour of the State, he remarked. He further sought suggestions from the participants regarding relaxation of ILP.
Touching on the issue of NIB, Zeliang said that NIB was proposed to be set up under his chairmanship for providing a mechanism for single window clearance of investment proposals received by the State Government, with an objective to avoid red-tape associated with project clearance in India and further to promote and facilitate investment environment in Nagaland. Let the Government go ahead with NSDZ and NIB with rectification wherever required, Zeliang appealed.
It may be mentioned that various speakers appreciated the proposal of NIB and suggested for nominating experts in the Board, so as to utilise their expertise.
On the NLTP Act Zeliang admitted that the Act passed in Nagaland has become a mockery as it has failed to achieve its objectives. On the claims of excise survey about huge loss of revenue the chief minister maintained that he was not much concern about revenue loss but of how much our money has gone into other States during the last 25 years. “Revenue loss is not the main issue but peoples’ economy is the issue,” he said.
T.R. Zeliang acknowleged the participation of the various groups and said that the Government has learnt a lot through the interface meet for working out an easy formula to march forward.
Representatives of various organisations including Naga Hoho, NMA, NSF, ENPO, Political parties, Nagaland GB Federation, Nagaland Law Students’ Federation, Youth Net took part in the deliberation expressing their views, opinions and suggestions. Other prominient citizens of Nagaland including former CS Nagaland Alemtemshi IAS, former CM Nagaland K.L.Chishi, former MLA I.Imkong, Retd. Commissioner & Secretary Khekiye Sema IAS, Ex. MPs Khyomo Lotha and Asungba Sangtam, Niketu Iralu, Mannen, P.Talitemjen, R.Ezung and others also participated in the Consultative Meet.
