Five Tribes reject Nagaland’s new Job Reservation Commission, demand policy overhaul

Guwahati: The Five Tribes Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP), which has been calling for a reassessment of the state’s job reservation policy, has rejected the state cabinet’s decision to set up a seven-member Job Reservation Commission (JRC).

An official statement said the state cabinet, in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Wednesday, approved the formation of the JRC, which would be led by a person of integrity and administrative experience, selected from among retired senior IAS officers of the Nagaland cadre.

The Commission will include one member each from the Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organisation (ENPO), the Central Nagaland Tribes Council (CNTC), and the Tenyimi Union Nagaland (TUN), along with three official members — the administrative head of the Political and Administrative Reforms Department, the Home Commissioner, and the administrative head of the Law and Justice Department.


The CoRRP said the move is a repeat of the 12 June resolution, which failed to address the committee’s core demands concerning the Backward Tribe (BT) reservation issue.

In a statement, the committee expressed strong discontent over the government’s decision regarding the composition of the Reservation Review Commission, particularly the inclusion of civil society organisations such as the CNTC, ENPO, and TUN.

“Inclusion of these CSOs reflects a partisan approach and fails to genuinely engage with the concerns raised by the Five Tribes CoRRP, which is demanding a review of the state’s 48-year-old reservation policy,” the statement said.

The Naga bodies have argued that the job reservation policy, in place since 1977, no longer reflects the present socio-economic and educational realities of Nagaland’s various communities.

On 29 May, the Five Tribes CoRRP held protest rallies in several districts across the state. The Nagaland government had introduced the 1977 reservation policy for Backward Tribes (BT), initially reserving 25% of jobs for seven tribes in non-technical and non-gazetted posts for a period of ten years. The government had announced that the state cabinet would meet and take a decision on the matter once the Chief Minister, who was out of station, returned.

On 2 July, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, while urging the public to remain patient, said the Commission’s task is “very detailed” and cannot deliver immediate results. He also clarified that any changes—whether in administration, reservations, or delimitations—should only be implemented after the census, expected to be conducted in 2027.

Nagaland’s reservation policy, first introduced in 1967, reserves 80% of state government jobs for all indigenous Scheduled Tribes. In 1977, eleven tribes were classified as “backward”, receiving 37% of the total reservations—25% for seven eastern tribes and 12% for four tribes from other regions. The policy also applies to state entrance examinations and educational institutions.

The CoRRP is made up of five Naga tribal organisations — the Angami Public Organisation, the Ao Senden, the Lotha Hoho, the Rengma Hoho, and the Sumi Hoho — representing the five major tribes: Ao, Sumi, Lotha, Rengma, and Angami. They have consistently demanded a review of the reservation policy, describing it as “imbalanced and outdated”.