Highlights of RIIN panel recommendations

DIMAPUR, AUG 11 (NPN) : Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) commission report that was tabled on the floor of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly on the last day of the two-day 8th Session, has made several recommendations to the state government after holding consultations with various stakeholders, civil society organizations, NGOs, political groups, individuals etc.

Some of the highlights of the report include– authority to authenticate claims of being indigenous Naga and non-Naga permanent resident/pre-1940 Gorkhas of Nagaland, registration, manner of conducting the authentication exercise for all categories etc.

Naga and non-Naga tribes of Nagaland: The panel recommended that authentication of identity of very eligible individual, belonging to the 18 recognized tribes of the state– male, female and child, must mandatorily be done in their respective native village. For those who had voluntarily left the native village, with or without the blessings of the authority of the parent/native village or had been excommunicated from the village would also require to have their ancestry authenticated in the native village. The exercise will only be a process of confirming the antecedents of the individual and will not amount to restoration of citizenship.

It suggested that there shall not be only one authority to authenticate the identity of an individual. With a view to ensure that the authentication process is carried out without influence or manipulation, it was recommended that the information furnished in the application of each individual will be first verified at the family level in the village, then to be confirmed by the clan and khel.

In case the village has a citizens forum, the particulars will be checked by the forum, before the village council certifies the document, at the final stage. The document will then be submitted to the deputy commissioner, through the concerned administrative officer.

In the authentication, it said that the role of the tribal hoho shall be limited to settling disputes that cannot be resolved at the village level.

Permanent Residents including pre-1940 Gorkhas: Unlike the groups mentioned above, the commission noted that this category will not have the source to confirm their ancestry, prior to settlement in Nagaland. Therefore, it said that the documents furnished by them as proof of identity and proof of pre-1940/1963 residency would have to be the basis of authenticating their identity.

Registration of Naga and non-Naga tribes of Nagaland: The commission, through various deliberations and having examined in detail, said that the required process for preparing the RIIN may not be relevant to choose a particular place for registration.

The commission suggested that every individual would need to mandatorily authenticate their ancestry from one of the villages, notified as a native village. The information of each individual, after due process, will be entered into the data bank, which would be at the district level– the district in which the native village is located. Thereafter, the information will be fed into the main data bank at the state level.

Registration of permanent residents including pre-1940 Gorkhas: The commission said that it is likely that an applicant may be employed outside his/her permanent residence in the State. Since it may not be relevant for an applicant to choose a particular place of registration in Register of Permanent Residents (RPR), the commission said that application may be submitted to the DC of the district of work place, if within the State, furnishing all the required details for authentication in the district of permanent residence.

Authentication exercise for all categories: Since there will be variations in the information required to be furnished by different groups and the content of the format being lengthy and complex, the Commission suggested different formats and also recommended that in respect of Naga and non-Naga tribes of the State, the format be translated into different local languages.

It further said that house to house enumeration will not be involved in the exercise, while forms may be made freely accessible in offices of the DCs and sufficient forms may be provided to the administrative officers for distribution to all the villages and towns in their jurisdiction, ward offices under Municipal and Town councils.

The Commission said that the onus of completing and submitting the form will rest on each individual.

The Commission said that irrespective of the manner in which submission is made, an acknowledgement of receipt must be given by the office of the DC/area administrative office/village council.

Further, in respect to the village level body, the Commission said that special care be taken to ensure that all the members are authenticated citizens of the village. “This provision is necessitated, as it had come to the attention of the Commission that in one particular village, the chairman of the village council is not an indigenous Naga of the State,” the Commission stated.

Further, Considering the various stages of activity involved, the Commission recommended that a strict time-line be prescribed for start and finish of each activity, in respect of Naga/non-Naga tribes/permanent residents/pre-1940 Gorkhas.

In the event of detecting a discrepancy at any stage, accountability must necessarily be fixed, the Commission said. As a precautionary measure, a self-declaration has been suggested in the form itself.

The commission further stressed that Land laws require to be tighten and adoption of preventive measures was an immediate felt need. It said that the practice of transfer of land and mutation of patta, in favour of non-tribals, on the basis of indigenous inhabitant certificate speaks either of ignorance or of blatant violation of the land laws of the State.

The Commission also noted that in recent times, there had been an increasing number of cases of procurement of land in Dimapur, by indigenous tribal woman. Although no specific instance was cited, it was alleged that many of these women are married to non-tribals and persons not indigenous to Nagaland, it added.

While pointing out that the right to purchase and own land by women cannot be compromised, the Commission however said that in such instances, it must categorically be notified that ownership will only be during her lifetime and that neither her husband nor their children shall have hereditary rights to the property, if she is married to a non-indigenous/non-tribal.

With reference to the peculiar history of the State, the Commission said that an opinion was expressed that the tribals, not indigenous to Nagaland, particularly those belonging to the adjoining states, be exempted from the ILP regime. However, the Commission said that this was a subject outside the mandate given to the Commission. But in view of the apprehensions voiced by the Naga Hoho, NSF, NMA and South Nagas’ Union of Nagaland, the Commission said that the state government may like to flag this issue for consideration.

Meanwhile, with regard to the issue of a non-indigenous person of Nagaland being the chairman of a village council, the Commission pointed out that the criteria/conditions of according recognition to a village had been modified via Home department OM dated March 22, 1996 Sl. No.iii which read as: “A new village should be constituted by indigenous inhabitants only”, which has implications on the qualifying criteria to be a member of a village council. In this regard, the Commission recommended that the prescribed qualification to be a member of the village council, as per Section 5 of the Nagaland Village and Tribal Councils Act, 1978, be suitably amended by incorporating “indigenous inhabitant” as a third condition to the existing conditions of being “a citizens of India” and “has attained the age of 25 years.”

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/highlights-of-riin-panel-recommendations/238048.html