Nagaland Assembly session to begin on 11 September, to table new municipal bill

The Nagaland Assembly's monsoon session, beginning on Monday, 11 September, is likely to adopt resolutions against the implementation of the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the northeastern state, officials said on Sunday, 10 September.

Assembly sources said that in the 14th assembly session, which would have three sittings, the government would move the new municipal bill as well

The consultative meeting of the state government with the apex tribal bodies and civil society organisations (CSO) held on 1 September had unanimously decided that the government would adopt resolutions in the state assembly against the implementation of the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act and UCC.

The all-important consultative meeting also decided to table the new municipal bill, which takes into account the customary laws and special constitutional provisions prevailing in Nagaland.

Municipal elections in Nagaland were first held in 2004 and the terms of the civic bodies ended in 2009–10. The state government had tried to hold municipal elections with 33 per cent reservation for women, but several influential CSOs opposed the move. Given the stalemate, no civic body election has been since.

The state government, due to pressure from the CSOs, Naga tribal hohos and various other organisations, repealed the earlier Municipal Act in March and constituted a committee to draft a new law.

Article 371A grants special protection to the Nagas in Nagaland with regard to traditional customary, religious and social practices and also in the ownership and transfer of land and resources. The cultural, societal, traditional and religious practices and the land and resources of Nagaland are thus exempt from the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution for the setting up of municipalities.

However, the 74th Amendment contradicts that exemption on the grounds that the state's urban administrations are not part of customary practices.

Many Naga organisations, however, have claimed that reservations for women in urban local bodies would go against their community's customary laws.

In Nagaland, over 95 per cent of the land and its resources belong to the people and the tribal communities, while the government owns only about 5 per cent of the total area, including reserve forests and roads.