In Article 371 A, Clause (1) and Sub-Clause (d) (i), it is mentioned that, there shall be established a Regional Council for the Tuensang District consisting of Thirty-five members and the Governor shall in his discretion make rules proving for:-
1. In (i) the loop-hole was making the Deputy Commissioner of the Tuensang District as the Chairman Ex-Officio of the Regional Council instead of making the Elected Member as the Chairman of the Regional Council and rather the Elected Member was made as the Vice Chairman of the Regional Council.
2. In Art. 371 A Clause (2) Sub-Clause (b), it is mentioned that ‘where any money provided by the Government of India to the Government of Nagaland to meet the requirements of the State of Nagaland as a whole, the Governor shall in his discretion arrange for an equitable allocation of that money between the Tuensang District and the rest of the State’. To my understanding that provision was not put into practice by the then Governors. As we are all aware of how decisions are taken in the Cabinet form of Government, in this particular case also it was the Finance Minister who allocated the funds to various departments. In the absence of a separate allocation of money for the Tuensang Affairs Department or to the Regional Council, the Tuensang District was at the mercy of the Finance Minister. If the Tuensang District was given a separate fund in conformity with the above given provision during the ‘Special Provision Period’ things would have been different and the feeling of discriminations, deprivations, negligence, etc. would have not been there, but because of the initial mistakes, today the people of the ENPO Areas have stood up demanding for a separate Frontier Nagaland State. These 2(Two) are the reasons how ENPO Area is continuing as Backward Region.
(W.Wangyuh Konyak)
