Finally, Nagaland prepares ground to hold civic polls with 33% reservation for women

Two decades have passed since the northeastern state held urban local body polls due to stiff resistance by civil society groups

Nagaland is readying to hold elections for its urban local bodies (ULB) after a gap of 20 years following the receipt of Governor La Ganesan’s assent to the new Nagaland Municipal Bill 2023, recently. Elections to the state’s civic bodies were last held in 2004.

Elections to Nagaland’s civic bodies were last held in 2004. (For representation)

A public interest litigation (PIL) is ongoing in the Supreme Court filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) against the Nagaland government's failure to conduct the civic polls with 33% quota for women. The apex court has directed the state to complete the ULB election process by April 30 this year.

“We are racing to finish up the process. We have already notified the special summary revision of electoral rolls for all the 39 ULB which will be completed on April 12, after which, the election will be notified,” state election commissioner (SEC) T John Longkumer said. The SEC will carry on the election process as per the new municipal law of 2023.

The state has, on multiple occasions, been notified about holding ULB elections, but quotas for women and taxation of land and property were obstacles that prevented the polls from taking place. Leading Naga tribal bodies and civil society organisations have long opposed the ULB polls under the Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001 on the contention that certain clauses were in contravention of Article 371A of the Constitution of India.

The article provides that no act of Parliament in respect of religious or social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, and ownership and transfer of land and its resources, shall apply to the state of Nagaland unless the state assembly by a resolution so decides. This casts a special responsibility on the state’s legislators to make policies and decisions that do not offend the rights of the people.

Accordingly, tribal bodies and civil society organisations contended that the newly passed act contained clauses that empowered municipalities to levy taxes on land and buildings.

The crux of the argument is that Article 371A covers the entire state without classification on rural or urban areas, therefore, if the Naga people are to pay tax to the government irrespective of urban or rural areas, it implies that the land belongs to the government, which defeats the constitutional provision that ensures absolute ownership of the people over their land.

How the women’s reservation is connected to it

Despite the constitutional requirement to ensure that a minimum of one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct elections in every municipality shall be reserved for women; and seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a municipality, the 2004 ULB elections did not have any reserved seats, as the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001 did not contain the necessary clause.

Subsequently in 2005, a woman intending candidate approached the Gauhati high court (HC) against the state government for not notifying seats reserved for women.

The following year, the state assembly incorporated a new section in the 2001 act providing 33% reservation of seats for women in the ULBs and reservation of office of the chairpersons in the ULBs.

However, ULB elections have not taken place since then due to stiff opposition from various quarters towards the provision of reservation of seats on claims that it was a matter concerning the customary practices of the Nagas.

In 2011, representatives of a women’s group filed a writ petition against the state government’s decision to withhold civic body elections in the Kohima bench of the Gauhati HC.

The court directed the state government to hold elections implementing 33% reservation of seats for women by January 2012. However, opposition from tribal and civil society organisations meant that the ULB elections, though notified, were once again postponed.

Resistance to reservation for women

In the same year (2012), the state assembly passed a resolution under Article 371A to exempt Nagaland from the application of Article 243T. However, the women’s panel in 2014 filed a special leave petition against the state assembly resolution in the Supreme Court — two years later, the assembly revoked the resolution and brought women’s reservation back. It also removed provisions relating to property tax (tax on land and building) from the state municipal act — all references and operative provisions relating to tax on land and buildings in the act were deemed to be “omitted”.

The state government then notified the ULB polls with 33% reservation for women to be held in early 2017, and with assurance from the then chief minister TR Zeliang to conduct the polls as scheduled amid protests from civil and tribal organisations, the women’s panel withdrew their case. However, the government’s decision to go ahead with the polls despite opposition from organisations erupted in violent protests, loss of lives and successive bandhs, forcing the government to call off the elections. Zeliang had to step down as CM.

The matter was raised again last year after the state election commission notified the ULB poll schedule and tribal bodies demanded that the municipal law be rewritten. They objected to the government’s usage of ambiguous words “omission/omitted”.

A possible resolution

While not entirely opposing the application of a 33% quota for women in ULB elections, the organisations demanded that the state government guarantee that the reservation would not infringe on Article 371A. They also asked for the duration of reservation to be not more than two tenures, and opposed reservation to the office of the chairperson for women.

The Nagaland government under chief minister Neiphiu Rio introduced a fresh Nagaland Municipal Bill 2023 in September last year. The new municipal bill, which was passed in November includes one-third reservation of seats in ULBs for women and excludes provisions relating to taxes on land and buildings.

Rio termed the new law “a new beginning”.

“It is a time for women to rise and prove their capabilities and be a part of urban governance. The wait has been long but hopefully, we will see better, cleaner and well-developed towns and municipalities with the inclusion of women councillors,” says Dr Rosemary Dzuvichu, a professor at Nagaland University and a staunch women’s rights activist.

“We welcome the ULB elections,” says Thejao Sekhose, the president of the Association of Kohima Municipal Wards Panchayats (AKMWP), which was at the forefront of opposing the 2001 municipal act.