KOHIMA: Defying government appeal, thousands of tribal people belonging to five Naga organizations on Wednesday staged a protest outside the Nagaland Civil Secretariat here demanding a review of the state's job reservation policy.
Under the banner of the 5-Tribes Committee on Review of Reservation Policy (CoRRP), the demonstrators demanded either to scrap the existing job reservation policy, which has been in effect since 1977, or to reallocate the unfilled reserved positions specifically to these five major tribes.
The five tribes CoRRP comprises five Naga tribe organisations -- the Angami Public Organization, the Ao Senden, the Lotha Hoha, the Rengma Hoho, and the Sumi Hohoon, representing the five major tribal communities Ao, Angami, Lotha, Rengma and Sumi.
The protestors, attired in traditional dresses, displayed banners and placards saying "We protest against 48 years of indefinite reservation policy", "Backward Tribe (BT) reservation without minimum cut-off marks is a mockery of the system," "BT reservation in 48 years has outlived its intended purpose," "48 years of patience on BT reservation has become unbearable."
Terming the 1977 reservation policy as "outdated and oppressive", the CoRRP demanded its repeal or redistribution of unutilised quotas to the five tribes. The Nagaland government on Tuesday appealed to the 5-Tribes CoRRP to call off the strike, stating the matter was already under review. (IANS)
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