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Subject: Polity

  • Kalasa-Banduri Dam Project

    India is on the brink of an acute water crisis, which has, to an extent, fabricated a looming threat of trans-boundary water conflicts. The conflict on the Mandovi / Mahadayi River— flowing through Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra— is one such example.

    Try this PYQ:

    What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?

    (a) Recently discovered uranium deposits

    (b) Tropical rain forests

    (c) Underground cave systems

    (d) Water reservoirs

    Kalasa-Banduri Project

    • The project undertaken by the Karnataka government proposes to divert Mandovi river water from Kalasa and Banduri canals into the Malaprabha river in the state.
    • The project received clearance from the Centre in 2002. It aims to construct a total of 11 dams on the river Mandovi.
    • The diversion of water from Kalasa and Banduri nullahs, however, has been the point of contention between Karnataka and Goa, with the latter claiming it would strip the state of its flora and fauna.

    The conflict

    • The Mandovi originates from Karnataka’s Belgaum district.
    • The Mandovi river basin falls into the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
    • The river is 81 kilometres (km) in length; 35 km of which flows in Karnataka, 1 km in Maharashtra and 45 km in Goa.
    • The seeds of the conflict were sowed over 40 years ago: In 1985, Karnataka initially explored a 350 megawatt-hydro-electric project to divert 50 per cent of the Mandovi river water in Karnataka for irrigation.
    • The plan was also to allow a steady flow of water from the power project’s storage dam after using the water for irrigation purposes in Karnataka.
    • This would have served to drinking water and irrigation purposes in Goa as well.

  • What are Question Hour and Zero Hour?

    The Lok Sabha Secretariat officially released the schedule for the monsoon Parliament session with Question Hour being dropped. Zero Hour will also be restricted in both Houses.

    This newscard is very narrative in its form and scope.

    Q.Discuss the various instruments of Parliamentary Control in India.

    What is Question Hour, and what is its significance?

    • Question Hour is the liveliest hour in Parliament. It is during this one hour that MPs ask questions of ministers and hold them accountable for the functioning of their ministries.
    • Prior to Independence, the first question asked of government was in 1893. It was on the burden cast on village shopkeepers who had to provide supplies to touring government officers.
    • The questions that MPs ask are designed to elicit information and trigger suitable action by ministries.
    • Over the last 70 years, MPs have successfully used this parliamentary device to shine a light on government functioning.
    • Their questions have exposed financial irregularities and brought data and information regarding government functioning to the public domain.
    • With the broadcasting since 1991, Question Hour has become one of the most visible aspects of parliamentary functioning.

    And what is Zero Hour?

    • While Question Hour is strictly regulated, Zero Hour is an Indian innovation. The phrase does not find mention in the rules of procedure.
    • The concept of Zero Hour started organically in the first decade of Indian Parliament when MPs felt the need for raising important constituency and national issues.
    • During the initial days, Parliament used to break for lunch at 1 pm.
    • Therefore, the opportunity for MPs to raise national issues without an advance notice became available at 12 pm and could last for an hour until the House adjourned for lunch.
    • This led to the hour being popularly referred to as Zero Hour and the issues being raised during this time as Zero Hour submissions.
    • Its importance can be gauged from the support it receives from citizens, media, MPs and presiding officers despite not being part of the rulebook.

    How is Question Hour regulated?

    • Parliament has comprehensive rules for dealing with every aspect of Question Hour.
    • And the presiding officers of the two houses are the final authority with respect to the conduct of Question Hour.
    • For example, usually, Question Hour is the first hour of a parliamentary sitting.

    What kinds of questions are asked?

    • Parliamentary rules provide guidelines on the kind of questions that can be asked by MPs.
    • Questions have to be limited to 150 words. They have to be precise and not too general.
    • The question should also be related to an area of responsibility of the GoI.
    • Questions should not seek information about matters that are secret or are under adjudication before courts.
    • It is the presiding officers of the two Houses who finally decide whether a question raised by an MP will be admitted for answering by the government.

    How frequently is Question Hour held?

    • The process of asking and answering questions starts with identifying the days on which Question Hour will be held.
    • At the beginning of Parliament in 1952, Lok Sabha rules provided for Question Hour to be held every day. Rajya Sabha, on the other hand, had a provision for Question Hour for two days a week.
    • A few months later, this was changed to four days a week. Then from 1964, Question Hour was taking place in Rajya Sabha on every day of the session.
    • Now, Question Hour in both Houses is held on all days of the session.
    • But there are two days when an exception is made. There is no Question Hour on the day the President addresses MPs from both Houses in the Central Hall.
    • Question Hour is not scheduled either on the day the Finance Minister presents the Budget.

    How does Parliament manage to get so many questions answered?

    • To streamline the answering of questions raised by MPs, the ministries are put into five groups. Each group answers questions on the day allocated to it.
    • For example, in the last session, on Thursday the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Labour, Housing, and Youth Affairs and Sports were answering questions posed by Lok Sabha MPs.
    • MPs can specify whether they want an oral or written response to their questions.
    • They can put an asterisk against their question signifying that they want the minister to answer that question on the floor. These are referred to as starred questions.
    • After the minister’s response, the MP who asked the question and other MPs can also ask a follow-up question.
    • This is the visible part of Question Hour, where you see MPs trying to corner ministers on the functioning of their ministries on live television.

    How do ministers prepare their answers?

    • Ministries receive the questions 15 days in advance so that they can prepare their ministers for Question Hour.
    • They also have to prepare for sharp follow-up questions they can expect to be asked in the House.
    • Governments’ officers are close at hand in a gallery so that they can pass notes or relevant documents to support the minister in answering a question.
    • When MPs are trying to gather data and information about government functioning, they prefer the responses to such queries in writing.
    • These questions are referred to as unstarred questions. The responses to these questions are placed on the table of Parliament.

    Are the questions only for ministers?

    • MPs usually ask questions to hold ministers accountable. But the rules also provide them with a mechanism for asking their colleagues a question.
    • Such a question should be limited to the role of an MP relating to a Bill or a resolution being piloted by them or any other matter connected with the functioning of the House for which they are responsible.
    • Should the presiding officer so allow, MPs can also ask a question to a minister at a notice period shorter than 15 days.

    Is there a limit to the number of questions that can be asked?

    • Rules on the number of questions that can be asked in a day have changed over the years.
    • In Lok Sabha, until the late 1960s, there was no limit on the number of unstarred questions that could be asked in a day.
    • Now, Parliament rules limit the number of starred and unstarred questions an MP can ask in a day.
    • The total numbers of questions asked by MPs in the starred and unstarred categories are then put in a random ballot.
    • From the ballot in Lok Sabha, 20 starred questions are picked for answering during Question Hour and 230 are picked for written answers.
    • Last year, a record was set when on a single day, after a gap of 47 years, all 20 starred questions were answered in Lok Sabha.

    Have there been previous sessions without Question Hour?

    • Parliamentary records show that during the Chinese aggression in 1962, the Winter Session was advanced.
    • The sitting of the House started at 12 pm and there was no Question Hour held. Before the session, changes were made limiting the number of questions.
    • Thereafter, following an agreement between the ruling and the Opposition parties, it was decided to suspend Question Hour.

  • Mission Karmayogi for Civil Services Capacity Building

    The Union Cabinet gave its approval for Mission Karmayogi, a new national capacity building and performance evaluation programme for civil servants.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The Mission Karmayogi recently seen in news is related to:

    a) EPFO reforms

    b) Labour laws reforms

    c) Civil Services reforms

    d) Artisans and Handicrafts

    Mission Karmayogi

    • The mission is established under the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB).
    • It is aimed at building a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
    • It is meant to be a comprehensive post-recruitment reform of the Centre’s human resource development, in much the same way as the National Recruitment Agency approved last week is pre-recruitment reform.

    Why such a mission?

    • The capacity of Civil Services plays a vital role in rendering a wide variety of services, implementing welfare programs and performing core governance functions.

    Major undertakings of the scheme

    • The scheme will cover 46 lakh, Central government employees, at all levels, and involve an outlay of ₹510 crores over a five-year period, according to an official statement.
    • The programme will support a transition from “rules-based to roles-based” HR management so that work allocations can be done by matching an official’s competencies to the requirements of the post.
    • Apart from domain knowledge training, the scheme will focus on “functional and behavioural competencies” as well, and also includes a monitoring framework for performance evaluations.
    • Eventually, service matters such as confirmation after probation period, deployment, work assignments and notification of vacancies will all be integrated into the proposed framework.
    • The capacity building will be delivered through iGOT Karmayogi digital platform, with content drawn from global best practices rooted in Indian national ethos.

    Apex bodies under the mission

    • The Prime Minister’s Public Human Resource Council will be set up as the apex body to direct the reforms.
    • There will be an autonomous Capacity Building Commission to be established to manage the reformed system and harmonize training standards across the country so that there is a common understanding of India’s aspirations and development goals.
    • A wholly government-owned, not-for-profit special purpose vehicle will be set up to own and operate the digital platform and its content.

  • Need for a Common Electoral Roll

    The Prime Minister’s Office earlier this month held a meeting with representatives of the Election Commission and the Law Ministry to discuss the possibility of having a common electoral roll for elections to the panchayat, municipality, state assembly and the Lok Sabha.

    Try this question:

    Q.Discuss how a common electoral roll and simultaneous elections are ways to save the enormous amount of effort and expenditure on Elections in India.

    Electoral Rolls in India

    • In many states, the voters’ list for the panchayat and municipality elections is different from the one used for Parliament and Assembly elections.
    • The distinction stems from the fact that the supervision and conduct of elections in our country are entrusted with two constitutional authorities — the Election Commission (EC) of India and the State ECs.
    • Set up in 1950, the EC is charged with the responsibility of conducting polls to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India, and to Parliament, the state assemblies and the legislative councils.
    • The SECs, on the other hand, supervise municipal and panchayat elections. They are free to prepare their own electoral rolls for local body elections, and this exercise does not have to be coordinated with the EC.

    So do all states have a separate voters list for their local body elections?

    • Each SEC is governed by a separate state Act. Some state laws allow the SEC to borrow and use the EC’s voter’s rolls in toto for the local body elections.
    • In others, the state commission uses the EC’s voters list as the basis for the preparation and revision of rolls for municipality and panchayat elections.
    • Currently, all states, except UP, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Assam, MP, Kerala, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, adopt EC’s rolls for local body polls.

    Why need a common electoral roll?

    • First, the common electoral roll is among the promises made by the govt. in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections last year.
    • It ties in with the party’s commitment to hold elections simultaneously to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies, which is also mentioned in the manifesto.
    • The incumbent government has pitched a common electoral roll and simultaneous elections as a way to save an enormous amount of effort and expenditure.
    • It has argued that the preparation of a separate voters list causes duplication of essentially the same task between two different agencies, thereby duplicating the effort and the expenditure.
    • The pitch for a single voters list is not new. The Law Commission recommended it in its 255th report in 2015. The EC too adopted a similar stance in 1999 and 2004.

    How it can be implemented?

    • In the meeting called by the PMO, two options were discussed.
    • First, a constitutional amendment to Articles 243K and 243ZA that gives the power of superintendence, direction and control of preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of local body elections to the SECs.
    • The amendment would make it mandatory to have a single electoral roll for all elections in the country.
    • Second, to persuade the state governments to tweak their respective laws and adopt the Election Commission’s (EC) voters list for municipal and panchayat polls.

  • New rules for Transaction of Business of the Govt. of UT of J&K Rules, 2019

    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has notified new rules for administration in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir that specify the functions of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the Council of Ministers.

    Tap to read more about: Reorganization of J&K

    New Rules for J&K

    • The new rules have been defined under Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.

    What are they?

    (1)Executive functions of the L-G

    • According to the rules the “police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption” will fall under the executive functions of the L-G.
    • Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning.

    (2)Minority Community interests

    • The proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect peace and tranquillity or the interest of any minority community, the SCs, the STs and the Backward Classes shall essentially be submitted to the LG through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the CM, before issuing any orders.

    (3)Service Matters

    • The Council of Ministers, led by the CM, will decide service matters of non-All India Services officers, proposal to impose a new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments or offices and draft legislation.

    (4)Difference of Opinion

    • In case of difference of opinion between the L-G and a Minister when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers”.

    (5)Relation with the Centre

    • According to the rules, “any matter which is likely to bring the Government of the UT into controversy with the Central Government or with any State Government” shall be brought to the notice of the L-G and the CM by the Secretary concerned through the Chief Secretary.
    • All communications received from the Centre, including those from the PM and other Ministers, shall be submitted by the Secretary to the Chief Secretary, the Minister in charge, the CM and the L-G for information after their receipt.

    (6)Various departments

    • Under the rules, there will be 39 departments in the UT, such as school education, agriculture, higher education, horticulture, election, general administration, home, mining, power, Public Works Department, tribal affairs and transport.

  • States can have sub-groups among SCs/STs: Supreme Court

    A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court has held that States can sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List to provide preferential treatment to the “weakest out of the weak”.

    Try this question for mains;

    Q.Reservation is no more seen by the Supreme Court as an exception to the equality rule; rather, it is a facet of equality. Discuss this in light of the quest for sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes/Tribes.

    What is the sub-categorisation of SCs?

    • States have argued that among the SCs, there are some that remain grossly under-represented despite reservation in comparison to other SCs.
    • This inequality within the SCs is underlined in several reports, and special quotas have been framed to address it.
    • For example, in AP, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, special quotas were introduced for the most vulnerable Dalits.
    • In 2007, Bihar set up the Mahadalit Commission to identify the castes within SCs that were left behind.

    About the Judgement

    • The judgment is based on a reference to the Constitution Bench the question of law involving Section 4(5) of the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006.
    • The legal provision allows 50% of the reserved Scheduled Castes seats in the State to be allotted to Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs.

    There lies struggle within castes: SC

    • There is a “caste struggle” within the reserved class as a benefit of reservation is being usurped by a few, the court pointed out.
    • The million-dollar question is how to trickle down the benefit to the bottom rung.
    • It is clear that caste, occupation, and poverty are interwoven.
    • The State cannot be deprived of the power to take care of the qualitative and quantitative difference between different classes… to take ameliorative measures, said the judgment.

    Overruling the old judgment

    • With this, the Bench took a contrary view to a 2004 judgment delivered by another Coordinate Bench of five judges in the E.V. Chinnaiah case.
    • The judgment had held that allowing States to unilaterally “make a class within a class of members of the Scheduled Castes” would amount to tinkering with the Presidential list.
    • The judgment is significant as it fully endorses the push to extend the creamy layer concept to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
    • Citizens cannot be treated to be socially and educationally backwards till perpetuity; those who have come up must be excluded like the creamy layer, the judgment said.

    What is the Presidential list?

    • The Constitution, while providing for special treatment of SCs and STs to achieve equality, does not specify the castes and tribes that are to be called SCs and STs.
    • This power is left to the central executive — the President. As per Article 341, those castes notified by the President are called SCs and STs.
    • A caste notified as SC in one state may not be an SC in another state. These vary from state to state to prevent disputes as to whether a particular caste is accorded reservation or not.
    • According to the annual report of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, there were 1,263 SCs in the country in 2018-19.
    • No community has been specified as SC in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
    • The Constitution treats all Schedule Castes as a single homogeneous group.

    Arguments against sub-categorisation

    • The argument is that the test or requirement of social and educational backwardness cannot be applied to SCs and STs.
    • The special treatment is given to the SCs due to untouchability with which they suffer.
    • In a 1976 case, State of Kerala v N M Thomas, the Supreme Court laid down that “Scheduled Castes are not castes, they are class.”
    • The petitioner’s argument against allowing states to change the proportion of reservation is also based on the perception that such decisions will be made to appease one vote-bank or the other.
    • A watertight President’s list was envisaged to protect from such potential arbitrary change.

    Way ahead with the Judgement

    • The judgement reasoned that sub-classifications within the Presidential/Central List do not amount to “tinkering” with it.
    • No caste is excluded from the list. The States only give preference to weakest of the lot in a pragmatic manner based on statistical data.
    • Preferential treatment to ensure even distribution of reservation benefits to the more backward is a facet of the right to equality, judgement observed.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] SC judgement on Reservation not being a Fundamental Right

  • India needs a Fiscal Council

    The newscard highlights the need of bipartisan, independent Fiscal Council to report and analyse FRBM discrepancies by the Government.

    Try this question for mains:
    Q.Fiscal Council is an important institution needed to complement the rule-based fiscal policy. Discuss.

    What is a Fiscal Council?

    • A Fiscal Council is an independent fiscal institution (IFI) with a mandate to promote stable and sustainable public finances.
    • They aim to provide nonpartisan oversight of fiscal performance and/or advice and guidance — from either a positive or normative perspective — on key aspects of fiscal policy.
    • These institutions assist in calibrating sustainable fiscal policy by making an objective and scientific analysis.

    Voices for a Fiscal Council

    • The 13th Finance Commission recommended that a committee be appointed by the Ministry of Finance which should eventually transform itself into a Fiscal Council.
    • The FC expected it to conduct an annual independent public review of FRBM compliance, including a review of the fiscal impact of policy decisions.
    • The FRBM Review Committee too made a similar recommendation underlining the need for an independent review by the Finance Ministry appointing the Council.

    Why need a fiscal council?

    (1)Burgeoning deficits

    • For the current year, even without any additional fiscal stimulus, the deficit is estimated at about 7% of GDP as against 3.5% estimated in the Budget due to a sharp decline in revenues.
    • The consolidated deficit of the Union and States could be as high as 12% of GDP and the overall debt could go up to 85%.
    • Thus it is necessary that the government must return to a credible fiscal consolidation path once the crisis gets over.

    (2)Transparency issues

    • Besides large deficits and debt, there are questions of comprehensiveness, transparency and accountability in the Budgets.
    • The practice of repeated postponement of targets, timely non-settlement of bill payments and off Budget financing to show lower deficits has been common.
    • The report of the CAG of India in 2018 has highlighted various advances done to keep the liabilities hidden.

    Fiscal Council can be a game changer. How?

    • First, an unbiased report to Parliament helps to raise the level of debate and brings in greater transparency and accountability.
    • Secondly, costing of various policies and programmes can help to promote transparency over the political cycle to discourage populist shifts in fiscal policy and improve accountability.
    • Third, scientific estimates of the cost of programmes and assessment of forecasts could help in raising public awareness about their fiscal implications and make people understand the nature of budgetary constraint.
    • Finally, the Council will work as a conscience keeper in monitoring rule-based policies, and in raising awareness and the level of debate within and outside Parliament.

    Issues meddling between

    • The problem is that a Council created by the Finance Ministry and reporting to it can hardly be expected to be independent.

    Diverse role to play ahead

    • According to the IMF, there were 36 countries with IFIs in 2014 and more have been established since.
    • While most of the IFIs are in advanced countries, emerging economies too have also shown growing interest in them.
    • Although their common agenda has been to function as watchdogs, there is considerable diversity in their structure and functions.
    • Over the years, monitoring compliance with fiscal rules and costing policies and programmes have become major tasks of these councils.

    Way forward

    • When the markets fail, governments have to intervene.
    • Whenever governments seem obstructed, it is here that we need systems and institutions to ensure checks and balances.
    • In that respect, a Fiscal Council is an important institution needed to complement the rule-based fiscal policy.

    Conclusion

    • Of course, it is not a ‘silver bullet’; if there is no political will, the institution would be less effective, and if there is political will, there is no need for such an institution.
    • That is also true of the FRBM Act. While we cannot state that the FRBM Act has been an unqualified success, it has also not been an abject failure either.

  • Office of the Attorney General and its role in contempt cases

    Attorney General of India has refused consent to a plea to initiate criminal contempt action against an actor for “scandalizing” the Supreme Court.

    Note important power, functions and limitations of AGI. A bluff can be created with the dicey statements in the prelims.

    What is the case for prior approval in Contempt Cases?

    • The prior consent in writing of the Attorney General is required for the Supreme Court to initiate criminal contempt action in a case a/c to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971.
    • AGI consent in a form of check on the much-debated suo-motu power of criminal contempt.

    Attorney General of India (AGI)

    • The AGI is the Indian government’s chief legal advisor and is a primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
    • They can be said to be the advocate from the government’s side.
    • They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
    • They must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court ( i.e. a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President and must be a citizen of India.).

    Functions and duties

    • The AGI is necessary for advising the Government of India on legal matters referred to them.
    • They also perform other legal duties assigned to them by the President.
    • The AGI has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote.
    • The AGI appears on behalf of Government of India in all cases (including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which GoI is concerned.
    • They also represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.
    • The AG is assisted by a Solicitor General and four Additional Solicitors General.

    Powers

    • The AG can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government.
    • They cannot defend an accused in the criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government.
    • The AG is to be consulted only in legal matters of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted.
    • All references to the AG are made by the Law Ministry.

    Limitations

    The AG:

    • should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India
    • should not defend accused persons in criminal cases without the permission of the government of India
    • should not accept appointment as a director in any company without the permission of the government

    Global precedence

    • Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the AGI does not have any executive authority.
    • Those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India.
    • Also, the AG is not a government servant and is not debarred from private legal practice.

  • National Council for Transgender Persons

    The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the National Council for Transgender Persons.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the salient features of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. What are its various shortcomings?

    National Council for Transgender Persons

    • It has been a requirement under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
    • The Social Justice Minister would be the chairperson of the Council.
    • The members would include officials of the Ministries of Health, MHA, MoHUA, Minority Affairs, HRD etc. among others.
    • The council also includes five nominated members from the transgender community.

    Its mandate

    • The council would work with States to ensure that transgender welfare boards are set up in all States and essential needs of the community, like housing, food, healthcare and education are met.

    Also read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/parliament-passes-transgender-persons-protection-of-rights-bill-2019/

  • Naga peace process

    The article analyses the issue of Naga peace process and the problem of identifying the stakeholders in the process.

    Naga Polity and aspirations

    • The  Nagas family comprises over 25 tribes.
    • Each of these is a proud owner and inheritor of a distinct culture, language, tradition and geography, supporting a distinct world view.
    • However, many Nagas aspire to Naga unity, and they view those tribal loyalties as residues of a premodern past and an obstacle to Naga solidarity.
    • Naga nationalism is connected with the idea Naga homeland  that includes contiguous areas in a number of Northeastern states, and even parts of Myanmar.

    “Unique history” formulation

    • The source of the phrase can be traced back to a joint communiqué that NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and former Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah signed in Amsterdam on July 11, 2002.
    • Meaning of the phrase “unique history” is not self-explanatory.
    • Despite the lack of clarity, it is adopted by officials and political leaders intended to accept two things-
    • (a) the characterisations long favoured by security bureaucrats of the Naga political struggle as a separatist insurgency or a terrorist movement that makes false claims to Naga unity, are inaccurate and
    • (b) rejecting those labels [ such as separatist insurgency or terrorist movement] is a necessary condition for negotiations based on mutual respect.
    • Those are significant achievements that should not be allowed to wither away.

    Negotiating with NSCN-IM and issues with it

    • NSCN-IM had declared the Shillong Accord of 1975 a sellout, and a betrayal of the Naga cause.
    • But it emerged as a serious political force precisely because it stood for Naga unity.
    • However, it is argued that NSCN-IM’s appeal is limited to the Tangkhul tribes of Manipur only.

    Consider the question “The issues of identifying the stakeholders in the Naga peace process is at the root of the solution to the peace problem. Also, examine the other factors which make the resolution elusive. Suggest the measures to resolve the issue.”

    Conclusion

    That a more nuanced negotiating strategy is now emerging is a positive development. But the fundamental question about who all the stakeholders in the Naga conflict are, still needs a satisfactory answer, one that is based on an in-depth mapping of the conflict. Only then can we expect peaceful dialogue and patient negotiations to end the conflict and bring about a durable peace.