Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
| Photo Credit: ANI
GUWAHATI
Bowing to pressure from a body of five “advanced” tribes, the Nagaland government has restructured a panel to review the State’s reservation policy.
The name of the panel has also been changed from the Job Reservation Commission to the Commission for Review of Reservation.
The new panel, announced on October 15, is composed entirely of senior government officials to ensure a “more balanced and neutral approach”. The earlier panel had members of organisations who belonged to tribes that are beneficiaries of the job quota policy.
Government spokesperson K.G. Kenye said the reconstituted five-member committee will be chaired by former Development Commissioner R. Ramakrishna.
“The committee has been given six months from the date of appointment to complete its review and submit recommendations to the government,” he said, admitting that the decision to make the panel “more neutral” followed petitions by the Five-Tribe Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP).
The CoRRP represents the Ao, Angami, Lotha, Rengma, and Sumi communities.
Mr. Kenye stated that the renaming of the commission reflects the government’s acknowledgement that the issue goes beyond job quota. “The government has listened to all sides to form a committee that will bring clarity, fairness, and finality to a long-pending issue that has stirred both political and administrative debate in Nagaland,” he said.
The demand to review the job quota policy gained momentum earlier this year. The CoRRP argued that the policy, introduced in 1977, no longer reflects the current socio-economic and educational realities of the Naga tribes in Nagaland.
Initially, 25% of the non-technical and non-gazetted posts were reserved for seven tribes for 10 years. These tribes were designated backward based on educational and economic disadvantages, apart from limited representation in State services.
The reservation was later increased to 37%, with 25% allocated to seven backward tribes inhabiting Eastern Nagaland and 12% to the remaining three backward tribes elsewhere in the State.
The beneficiary tribes are against any tweaking of the job reservation policy.
Published – October 18, 2025 10:46 am IST
