Imkong Walling
Sometime in January 2017, as Nagaland headed for a violent showdown over elections (or not to be) to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) with 33 percent of the seats reserved for women, there appeared in the newspapers (NM Act founded on ‘erroneous’ interpretation: Legal expert, The Morung Express, January 24, 2017) a narrative questioning the legal foundation of the now repealed Nagaland Municipal (NM) Act of 2001.
There were two manifestly evident narratives. One was a deep-seeded antipathy, though unfounded, of the tribal organisations to the idea of reserving seats for women and the other maintaining that it would not infringe on Article 371 (A).
The third, which came from the president of the Nagaland Bar Association, held that the NM Act, 2001, was based on an “erroneously” interpreted Part IXA of the Constitution of India. Part IXA, containing Article 243P to Article 243ZG, was incorporated via the 74th Amendment in 1992, spelling out the procedure and grounds for establishing Municipalities. Article 243T of Part IXA provides for 33 percent seat reservation for women from the Scheduled Tribes/Scheduled Castes in the ULBs.
As interpreted by the then president of the state lawyers’ collective, Part IXA only provides for the establishment of civic bodies in areas/towns with cosmopolitan demographic, and or, applicable to areas where the Scheduled Tribes/Scheduled Castes are in minority. On the contrary, he said that Nagaland did/does not fit the description of an ST-minority area or state.
He defended his interpretation by citing Article 243 ZC. This Article states that no part of Part IXA will be applicable to the Scheduled Areas and tribal areas referred to in Clause 1 and 2 of Article 244.
Per his interpretation, the state government should consider repealing the NM Act of 2001, then in operation, and substitute it with a law that suits the social fabric of the state. He though maintained that there was no question of a civic law violating Article 371 (A) or the customs and traditions.
That argument however was hardly noticed, and if the author’s memory serves right, it attracted no reaction from any quarter. It was perhaps owing to the heightened tension prevailing at the time.
The Municipal elections scheduled in February of that year went on to be scrapped, at the cost of two lives. The government subsequently constituted a ‘Review Committee’ comprising of bureaucrats purportedly to liaison with the civil society organisations, including the Joint Coordination Committee that spearheaded the opposition to the holding of municipal elections with reservation of seats for women. This committee followed up by forming a ‘Consultative Group,’ which included the various tribal organisations, for resolving the imbroglio.
It is unclear what the outcome of the initiative was, but six years later, the state government repealed the Act of 2001 and introduced a new Municipal Bill, which was passed in the Assembly on November 9.
It retained the provision for 33 percent reservation and excluded property taxation. The government has claimed that it has the consent of the tribal organisations but certainly not all, which puts a big question mark on the stance, or rather, the commitment of the state government.
Going by the approach of the government, it would not be wrong to assume that fear of the Supreme Court’s reprimand alongwith forfeiting funding from Delhi served as the motivation and not actual concern for women’s empowerment.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
