Naga tribes warn of agitation

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

Kohima, Aug. 4: The Nagaland government today faced the threat of an agitation after it announced 25 per cent job reservation for six backward tribes of the state — Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Sangtam and Yimchunger. The department of personnel and administrative reforms announced the reservation for all categories of gazetted and non-gazetted posts for persons belonging to the six backward tribes from Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire and Longleng. The government also said eight per cent of jobs would be reserved for backward tribes like Chakhesang, Pochury and Zeliang. The notification said all departments should maintain a separate register to implement the reservation effectively. Further, the departments were asked to submit quarterly reports to the personnel and administrative reforms department and the department of underdeveloped areas (DUDA) on the implementation of the policy. In case of any difficulty in implementing the provisions of the revised reservation policy, the departments would refer the case to the personnel and administrative reforms department with relevant records. However, the Chakhesang, Pochury and Zeliangrong tribes said they would not accept eight per cent reservation. The tribes said they would resort to an agitation and several organisations have come out against the new reservation policy. They said the new job reservation policy was biased and should be reviewed immediately. The state government has not mentioned quotas for other minority tribes in Nagaland, like Kukis, Kacharis, Garos and Mikhirs. Nagaland has 16 recognised tribes and several sub-tribes and non-Naga tribes.