Nagaland House passes Bill retaining 33% women’s reservation for ULB polls

The apex tribal bodies, which had earlier opposed such a reservation, now have accepted it and the SEC will announce the dates for municipal polls soon, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said Thursday.

Apart from doing away with reservation for the chairperson post, a significant change in the new Bill is doing away with provisions for taxes on immovable property. Explaining this, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister K G Kenye referred to a historical opposition to taxation by the Naga people.

“The 33% reservation was somehow broadly accepted after a series of consultations but the other issues of concern were mainly tax… So now there is no tax on immovable properties but the other revenues that the public has to pay in the form of fees, service charges, maintenance charges… We have not erased that portion,” he said.

The issues of women’s reservations and municipal polls have even caused governments to fall in the past. In 2017, an attempt by the state to implement the 33% reservation and conduct urban local body polls was met with violent protests in which two people died. In the face of mounting pressure, then chief minister T R Zeliang resigned.

Speaking on the floor of the assembly on Thursday, Zeliang, now Deputy Chief Minister, said: “It is not a secret that I have had the worst ordeal with this Bill in the past. But today I am most excited that this Bill will finally see the light of the day with 33% women’s reservation… our women will get the much needed boost to be elected representatives in the ULBs and be a part of the decision making bodies of our municipalities and towns… I would also like to appeal to the women to be on board with us today and not let the issue of reservation for the post of chairperson be a bottleneck in successful conduct of the ULB election.”

Hekani Jakhalu, one of two women elected for the first time to the Nagaland Assembly earlier this year, called it an emotional moment.

“Our time has finally arrived. We have the opportunity to excel, to be at par with anyone and to show the world we have arrived… It’s time Naga women are part of the process of women-led development,” she told reporters.