The Five Tribes Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP) has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Nagaland Government, starting September 20, to set up a commission to review the state’s reservation policy, warning that it will resort to a total shutdown if the government fails to act within the deadline.

Addressing a press conference after a joint meeting of the Five Tribes CoRRP with their respective apex tribal bodies at Hotel Japfü, Kohima, Convenor of the Committee, Er Tesinlo Semy, expressed deep frustration over the government’s inaction.

He said that while the government had earlier agreed to constitute a commission to review the policy, 100 days have already passed without any concrete step. He said that the Five Tribe CoRRP would submit a letter and if within 10 days, the Government does not set up the Commission, they would resort to total shutdown with effect from October 1.

Member Secretary GK Zhimomi also voiced disappointment over the delay, stating that the state Cabinet had agreed in principle to set up the commission but had failed to follow through. He explained that the government wanted to include nominations from civil society organizations, a proposal that the CoRRP has opposed from the very beginning.

He said for reasons best known to the government, they keep delaying the formation of the commission and clarified that this was not even their demand in the first place, recalling that it was during the June 3 meeting with the state government, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, in which the Government assured to set up a commission within a month.

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“And it’s now 100 days. In the meeting also the CoRRP has reiterated that the CSOs have no business to be a part of the Commission, which the government has remained unresponsive,” he noted.

He referred to the committee’s August 9 resolution, in which three core demands were placed before the authorities. The first concerned the composition of the commission, where the government proposed to include a member from each of the three blocks, an idea strongly opposed by the CoRRP. The second related to the tenure of the commission, with the government suggesting a six-month term, which the committee agreed to this timeframe, but it categorically rejected any delay or extension beyond the agreed period. The third demand was that the outcome of the commission’s review should be implemented as soon as possible. They should not wait for the completion of the census and if the Government is adamant with the interlinking of census then the current reservation policy should be suspended, he added.

He said that these were the three core demands, but the government has remained unresponsive for more than half a month since the resolution was submitted.

Zhimomi added that the committee had taken a unanimous decision to given the government a final 10-day deadline to the government to set up this commission, failing which they would move to the third phase of agitation.