Nagaland govt convenes consultative meet on ULB, UCC on September 1

The Nagaland Government has convened a consultative meeting with all concerned stakeholders on September 1 to deliberate on different aspects regarding the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The meeting will be held at the State Banquet Hall in the Chief Minister’s Residential Complex in Kohima at 11 AM.

This is a much anticipated move by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio after he mentioned about the the Urban Local Body (ULB) elections in his Independence Day speech.

A statement issued by Abhijit Sinha, Principal Secretary of Home Department of the Nagaland Government, stated that Chief Minister Rio, Deputy Chief Ministers TR Zeliang, Y. Patton, all the MLAs, MPs along with top brass of the Nagaland Government will be attending the meeting.

Representatives of 22 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been invited for the all important meeting.

In his Independence Day speech, Chief Minister Rio had said, “Pursuant to the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court was strongly opposed by the Tribal bodies and several CSOs on the ground of possible infringement of Article 371 (A). The Nagaland Legislative Assembly, heeding to the wishes of the people unanimously decided not to go ahead with the ULB elections and repealed the ACT while resolving to bring a new legislation expeditiously. We are now in the process of taking steps for making a new ACT in consultation with all stakeholders. I solicit the cooperation and guidance of every stakeholder in this regard.”

On May 19, the Supreme Court during a hearing stated that the law of the land must be followed and thus directed the Centre to find a solution on the matter.

A bench of justices, S K Kaul and A Amanullah was hearing a petition seeking 33 percent reservation for women in the local bodies when it expressed displeasure over the Nagaland assembly passing a resolution to repeal the Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 and resolving to not hold elections to the Urban Local Bodies.

Apart from this, matters pertaining to Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 are also expected to be discussed in the September 1 consultative meeting.