In a significant development in the 8th session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio announced the deferment of the much-anticipated Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) Bill 2026, citing the need for further examination and consultation with stakeholders.

Addressing the House on Friday, the Chief Minister emphasized that the matter concerning the enactment of the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority Act 2026 for the constitution of the FNTA is very important.

In view of the request made by the Government of India, which is a signatory to the Memorandum of Agreement, and the appeal of ENPO at the request made by ENLU, and keeping in mind the necessity of ensuring that provision of  MOA are addressed in legally sound and constitutionally tenable manner, the Chief Minister  proposed that consideration and passing of the FNTA Bill 2026 be deferred as stated by Minister Parliamentary Affairs and that the Bill be referred back to the Government for further examinations.

Rio mentioned that there has been constant communication with the Union Home Ministry and the Government is consistent in striving to ensure equity and inclusivity in the development across all sections of the people and all regions of the state.

Rio said owing to various historical reasons and geographical challenges, the districts of the Eastern Nagaland have suffered significant developmental deficits.

“These areas have not been able to attain the same level of progress as other parts of the state. Despite our committed and continuous initiative and intervention, the enormity of the development gap, coupled with limited resources, has meant that these regions continue to lag behind on several key indicators,” he said.

In order to fulfill these aspirations, the Chief Minister added that the people of Eastern Nagaland have expressed their desire for an institution arrangement in the form of Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority.

Rio further stated that the State Government, fully appreciating and understanding these aspirations, extended its support and worked jointly with the Government of India in upholding consultations and building consensus.

This process, he said culminated in signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on 5th February 2026 between Government of India, Nagaland Government and the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation for the establishment of FNTA within the State of Nagaland. The Frontier Nagaland Territory, comprises of six districts of Eastern Nagaland, namely Tuensang , Mon , Longleng, Kiphire , Noklak , Shamator of Nagaland State.

The objective of constituting the FNTA, Rio said is to establish a unique self-governing territorial integrity authority that will enable the people of Eastern Nagaland to fulfill their social, economic, educational, cultural and linguistic aspirations. The CM further added that it will also provide for democratic, decentralized self-governance at the regional level within the State.

With the constitution of FNTA,  Rio said it is also a message for a comprehensive economic development of Eastern Nagaland, regionalising its process with the rest of the State.

Rio emphasized that the  State Government will be allocating funds to FNTA based on its population and size, and also the Government of India keeping in view underdevelopment and lack of infrastructure in the Eastern region, will be sanction requisite funds under various schemes, programmes of the Ministry as a special development grant for developing of the infrastructure within the FNTA, for which FNTA will themselves identify such development projects in consultation with the State.

“The FNTA will also prepare its own annual plan, with the allocation fund of the Department and Subject under its control, and will have its own planning, financing set up to formulate development plan based on grass-roots needs. The State Government, on its part, will ensure timely release of funds in accordance with the laid-down norms of the State Government as well as the Central Governmen,” the Chief Minister said.

Outlining the process followed in preparing the Bill for the constitution of the FNTA, Rio highlighted that as per clause 3.3 of the Memorandum of Agreement, the FNTA is to be constituted under a special legislation to be enacted by the State Government in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs. The concerned Department of the State, following the signing of the MOU started preparing the bill and incorporating the various provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement, signed on 5th February 2026 between the Government of India, the Government of Nagaland and the ENPO for the creation of the FNTA.

The State Cabinet met on February 26, 2026 and deliberated on the draft Frontier-Nagaland Territorial Bill prepared by the Law and Justice Department. The Cabinet noted that the provisions of the MOA entered earlier envisages to give legislative power to FNTA. The views of the learned Advocate General, who was present in the meeting, were also sought.

The learned Advocate General’s opinion that under the constitution scheme, legislative power cannot be conferred on the FNTA through a State Legislation. Upon further deliberation, the Cabinet observed that the State Government does not possess the legislative competence to delegate powers equivalent to its own or to transfer a legislative authority to another body or authority. Accordingly, the Cabinet directed the Chief Secretary to bring the opinion of the learned Advocate General and its observations in respect to the legislative powers for FNTA to the North-East of MHA.

A copy of the communication sent to MHA was also directed to be provided to the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation. In compliance, the State Government addressed the communication to the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 6, 2026 regarding the issue of legislative power under Clause 3.3 of the MOA, with a copy to the ENPO and Extra 1. A copy of the letter sent to MHA.

On March 10, a communication was received from MHA wherein the State Government was requested to initiate action in terms of Clause 3.3 of MOA for constitution of FNTA under a legislative legislation to be enacted by the State Government in consultation with the MHA of Home Affairs as per the provisions of MOA and to send the draft proposal in this regard to MHA, he said.

“In the midst of all this above development, I also had a discussion with the Union Home Secretary on 16 March 2026 wherein a MOA signed between the Government of Nagaland with Government of India and ENPO was discussed and the need for early constitution of FNTA was also stressed open. Subsequently, the draft bill prepared by the Law and Justice Department of the State was further examined and after being vetted by the learned Advocate General of the State, a copy of the same was sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs on 17 March 2026 in terms of Clause 3.3 of MOA Addition to a copy of the Letter to MHA,” he added.

The Chief Minister further highlighted that the representative of the Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organization met him on March 24, 2026 and a matter regarding constitution of FNTA was discussed and representation was also submitted wherein ENPO of the eight tribes of Eastern Nagaland requesting that FNTA Bill be passed before the forthcoming Central Executive Committee meeting scheduled to be held on March 30, 2026.

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The Chief Minister highlighted that the this letter mentioned that 49 days has left and therefore no further delay should be done and since President and his team was with him and his Cabinet colleagues .

“We assured that in this session we will pass the Bill and we had written the letter as mentioned on 6th March and 17th March, if the reply don’t come also, we assured that we will pass the Bill and that’s how we introduced the Bill yesterday and we intend to pass the Bill today but those letters were received and we are seized of that situation,” Rio stated.

In view of these developments, Rio mentioned that the Cabinet met again on March 25, 2026 and further deliberated on the provision of the draft Bill and making into accounts the request of ENPO and also the fact that the session of the NLA is concluding on March 27 decided to approve the draft Bill with further modifications as considered necessary and for tabling in the ongoing session of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

Accordingly, the Bill for the constitution of FNTA was tabled yesterday. The Chief Minister added that he was also contacted by the Ministry of Home Affairs conveying that the matter regarding the control of legislative power to the FNTA which had earlier been raised by the State Government in its communication is still under examination. The Ministry further informed that the opinion of the Learned Counsel and Solicitor General of India is being sought on this issue.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government has accordingly been requested to allow some more time to the Ministry and to take up any further action with regard to FNTA Bill only after receipt of their views and opinions.

Further, in the evening of March 26, ENPO has submitted an appeal requesting that the provision of the Memorandum of Agreement signed on February 5, 2026 be upheld while passing the FNTA Bill 2026 and as communicated by the Member Secretary of ENLU passing on to the Parliamentary Minister. Further, on March 26, the ENLU has submitted a letter to Parliamentary Minister and ENPO dated 26th March to consider deferring passage of the FNTA Bill until time that all the concerns are adequately addressed and clarity is attained in MOA.

Parliamentary Affairs and Power Minister, KG Kenye informed the Nagaland Legislative Assembly that concerns have been raised by the Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union (ENLU) regarding the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) Bill 2026.

Citing communication from the Secretary of ENLU, Kenye stated that legislators of ENLU had held discussions with the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organization following the introduction of the Bill. During these deliberations, several key provisions were found to be missing in the draft Bill presented before the House.

He pointed out that these omissions were identified in comparison to the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed in New Delhi on February 5, 2026, between the Government of India, the State Government, and ENPO.

Kenye further noted that certain contentious issues have emerged when examining the contents of the Bill vis-à-vis the commitments made in the MoA. In light of these concerns, he emphasized the need for careful reconsideration.

“I am compelled to refer the matter and endorse it to the honourable House for reconsideration,” he stated, adding that the Bill should not be enacted at this stage.

He suggested that the FNTA Bill 2026 be referred back to the Government for further examination to ensure that all provisions of the MoA are adequately reflected and addressed before its passage.