Nagaland Likely to Set up 'Register of Indigenous Inhabitants'

Kohima, June 29, 2019:

Amid the discussions over the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and fears of its enactment, the Nagaland Government seems to be preparing to determine the 'indigenous' citizens of the state within a mere sixty days! According to sources, he Nagaland Government has decided to set up a 'Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland' (RIIN) to safeguard the identity of the indigenous people of Nagaland.

As per the sources, the main objective of the 'RIIN' is to prevent the issuance of fake indegenous inhabitants' certificates, officials said.

This Register of indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland will be the master-list of all indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, which will be prepared with an extensive survey with the help of village-wise and ward-wise list of indigenous inhabitants based on official records.

This extensive list will be prepared under the supervision of the district administrations.

The list will be prepared in a period of 60 days starting from July 10, 2019 onwards by designated teams from each village and ward, comprising SDO/ EAC, as the Chairman, BDO/UDO as member, headmasters of Govt high schools (to be nominated by DEOs), two GBs nominated by the Deputy Commissioner, two GPS/GMS/GHS teachers nominated by the DEO as member.

All teams will be constituted within seven days of the passing of the order.

According to sources, the designated teams will go on house-to-house surveys to make a list of inhabitants and will check the actual family members in the household. Each family member will be listed in the village of their original residence and mention will be made if the concerned member is actually residing in the town or Kohima/Dimapur/elsewhere. The permanent and present residences will be listed separately. AADHAR numbers (wherever available) will also be recorded.

The lists will be published in the villages and wards and authenticated by village and ward authorities under the supervision of district administration. Each list will be signed by the concerned teams as also the village and ward authorities.

The provisional list prepared by the teams constituted as above will be published in the village and the wards and also on the website of the district and the state governments on undating of the RIIN database with due intimation to the village, ward, and district authorities. This will be done as a feature to be incorporated in the online system of ILPs which will have a component of RIIN also. The database will be updated with photographs and AADHAR details every five years.

There will be a complete ban on issue of fresh indigenous inhabitant certificates and in case anyone is left out, he/she will have to file a application before the Home Commissioner for verification and updation. The permanent committee will monitor the whole exercise.

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