The Contentious Debate on Nagaland's Job Quota Policy
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Reservation, Scheduled Tribes, Special provisions for states like Nagaland - Article 371A).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity, Governance, Social Justice): Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population and the performance of these schemes; Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections; Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors. The issue of sub-categorization of reservation is a very important and contemporary topic.
Key Highlights from the News
The five "forward" tribes (non-BT tribes) in Nagaland are protesting, demanding changes to the state's job reservation policy in government jobs.
80% of government jobs in Nagaland are reserved for indigenous tribes. Within this, 11 Backward Tribes (BTs) have been given a 37% "reservation within a reservation" (sub-reservation).
The forward tribes argue that this policy, formed in 1977, is outdated and does not reflect current socio-economic conditions.
Their main demand is either to cancel the reservation for backward tribes or to allocate the unreserved 20% to them.
However, backward tribal organizations strongly oppose this, stating that weakening the current policy would adversely affect them.
Although the government appointed a commission to study the issue, the crisis continues due to disputes over its structure and name.
The debate about sub-categories within reservations is ongoing in many parts of India, and this incident in Nagaland is an example.
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