Centre, ENPO face July deadline to wrap up Eastern Nagaland issue

 MHA, ENPO face July deadline to wrap up Eastern Nagaland issue

'Rio Govt to initiate steps in assembly for a resolution'

New Delhi 

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) face deadline of Monsoon session of Parliament to wrap up issues concerning Eastern Nagaland.

"We need not set this deadline, yet there is," a source said adding by the Monsoon session of Parliament the issues concerning formation of Frontier Naga Territory in Eastern Nagaland have to be finalised as the central government will get into election mode for the battle of 2024 sooner than later.

In 2022, the Monsoon Session of Parliament was convened between July 18 and  August 13.

The AK Mishra-led panel is expected to be in Kohima for consultations with ENPO leaders and Nagaland state government on Wednesday (March 22) and Thursday to kick start the final round of the  process.

'Nagaland Page'

The centre has agreed in principle prior to February 27 polls to give an autonomous body to the Eastern Nagaland in pursuance of the demand for a separate state from the ENPO.

The Wednesday meeting will 'work on the points and strategies' to legislate the new law to fructify the formation of a new autonomous body with adequate financial and legislature powers.

The ENPO leaders have been insisting that the word 'council' should be avoided from the nomenclature and also that the 'new Frontier Naga Territory' should get adequate financial powers so that the leaders of the new proposed autonomous body will not have to rush to Kohima for funds.

A section of Eastern Nagaland leaders want that the top executive and administrative official of the autonomous territory should be designated as 'Chief Secretary'.  

The Mishra-panel also comprising joint director of Intelligence Bureau, Dr Mandeep Singh Tuli and MHA director (NE division) A K Dhayani will subsequently meet the state government representatives specially Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.

The Rio government will have to initiate steps in the assembly for passing a resolution during the ongoing state assembly session. 

The state assembly resolution and state cabinet nod will put the process on track for the union cabinet to apply its mind to frame a new central law.

For the Modi government for all practical purposes, the Monsoon Session of Parliament will be the last session where it will be able to take up such major new initiatives. The Winter Session of Parliament in Nov-December later this year will be almost a lame duck session as the country will be in election mode already.

The Lok Sabha polls are due by April-May 2024 and in December mega assembly elections will be round the corner in major states such as Rajastha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.

Moreover, the next Budget session of Parliament will be expected only by June 2024 after the general elections and after the installation of the new government. Sources have maintained any kind of 'delay tactics' will not be entertained both by the Ministry of Home Affairs and also the ENPO.

The Centre is meanwhile also looking into matters concerning Tripura tribals and their demand for greater autonomy as well. The newly floated tribal-based party Tipra Motha gained at the expense of the Left and BJP's pre-poll ally Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) in the recently held polls.

The Tipra Motha led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya making its first attempt could win 13 seats and vote share was 22 percent. The state of Tripura already has one  Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council yet several issues remain unsolved. 

The Mishra-panel Manipur visit is also crucial as Chief Minister N Biren Singh met Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi lately. A delegation led by Manipur Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar also met Union Home Secretary  Ajay Bhalla and Mr A K Mishra. 

The Manipur government has withdrawn from a ceasefire pact with the Kuki National Army (KNA), the Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), and the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA) and cited growing drug trade, increase in influx of Myanmarese immigrants and encouraging poppy cultivation for the same.

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