Urban Local Body Election has been the hot topic of debate and discussion in Nagaland for almost a decade now. Issues related to political reservation for women, Art. 371 (A) and their interface has been the core of debate on ULB. Recently the Government of Nagaland has taken a decision to nominate people to run ULB which has raised eyebrows of people in the state. This and various other issues related to ULB have been discussed in this Article.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ULB ELECTION- THE MODERN NAGA IMBROGLIO
The contentious issue of 33% women reservation has been lingering around in the long-overdue Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections in the state of Nagaland which for almost a decade has been running ULBs or Town Councils without public representation with the help of civil ‘Administrators’ (ADC SDO & EAC) following the dissolution of the Municipal and Town Councils.
It is worth to note that Municipal governance in India has existed since the year 1687, with the formation of Madras Municipal Corporation, and then Calcutta and Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1726. The types of Municipalities and its constitution is defined in “Article 243Q of PART IXA – THE MUNICIPALITIES” of the Constitution of India. Also, in the context of our State, the core jurisprudential principles of Municipal Governance in Nagaland has been derived from Nagaland Municipal Act which was passed in 2001, till such time only ad-hoc Town Committees for smaller towns and larger towns were in existence.
The concept of Municipal governance is based on the principle of ‘Local Self Governance’. Thus, Urban local bodies (ULBs) in the country are classified into three major categories like Municipal corporation (Nagar Nigam), Municipal Council (Nagar Palika Parishad) and Town Areas (Nagar Panchayat). In Nagaland, at present, by virtue of Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001 Thirty-Two Municipal councils and Town Councils have been created and brought into operation.
Municipal Governance also needs to be understood in the context of the devolution and equitable distribution of sovereign governing powers of the ‘State’ through the constitutional channels to the lowest of the administrative units in the country. Therefore, in the broader context, the ‘Local Bodies’ supposed to act as the channels of ‘Community Justice’ to the people under their jurisdiction, consequently, their existence in the modern, civilized society has been considered inevitable and vitally important to secure the core of the spirit of ‘Democracy’ in the country.
The participation of ‘citizens’ irrespective of their social status and Gender; in the governance of their – village, ward, block, district, state and the country is one of the many determinants of the success of Democracy in the Republic Nation. The question revolving around the ULBs and the extent of their functionality have to be understood in the broader context of ‘One Man, One Vote, One Value and One Voice’.
The ULB election has become a big issue in Nagaland politics as well as legal and social circles not merely because there are conceptual differences among the stakeholders but because of the ‘multiple referential integrity’ which ironically validates and invalidates the claims and averments at the same time. Hence, the question that should be brought in the debate is, as to how to ascertain the ‘truth’ in the interest of the ‘Common Good’ for the NAGAS in the context of ever-changing references to the ‘fluid’ plane of Time, Space and ostensible timeless traditions and complex cultural references AND culturally normalized, socially appropriated & politically opposed patriarchal discourses in relation to the burning debates over ULB Election and 33% Reservation for our Naga Women.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections are the central institution of democratic representative governments. Why? Because, in a democracy, the authority of the government derives solely from the consent of the governed. The principal mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of free and fair elections. In this context, the latest decision taken by the state Government to ‘NOMINATE’ members to run the ‘Urban Local Bodies’ for an interim period in the ratio of 70:30 with 70 male and 30 women representatives until the final submission of report by the committee constituted to study the alleged conflict related to provision for 33 % political Reservation for Naga women and Art 371 (A) of the Constitution of India; raised eyebrows of the ‘thinking’ people in Nagaland.
An intention and decision of the State Government to nominate people to run the Urban Local Bodies need to be examined for its legality and constitutionality. It is true that as per the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001 State Government has been permitted to nominate people of its choice who fulfill certain criteria to the Municipal Council Committee, however, the number of nominations has been kept limited to ‘ONE -THIRD OF THE DIRECTLY ELECTED MEMBERS’, which means, ‘existence’ of Directly Elected Members are required as a pre-condition to initiate nomination/s from the state government. In the present case of ULBs in Nagaland, the state government does not fulfill this cardinal requirement. Therefore, any step, which may be taken by the State Government of Nagaland to nominate people of its choice to run ULBs in the absence of duly elected representatives of the common people needs to be construed as Void-Ab-Initio.
Law requires that there should be proper and adequate representation of common citizens in the Municipal Council Committee, also, Law provides that the committee will also have members to represent the state government for its smooth and professional functioning, however, it is important to note that both the ‘classes of representatives’ must work in-collaboration and in-presence of each other. Government nominees, even if they are appointed, will not have any ‘legal standing’ to run the affairs of ULBs in the absence of duly elected representatives of the people.
Local Government is a state subject figuring as item 5 in List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Art. 243 G of the Constitution enshrines the basic principle of devolution of power to the local bodies. In the nation’s journey towards becoming an economic superpower, local bodies play an important role in enabling infrastructure availability to the citizens and therefore, the representation of citizens is vital- as they are the final stakeholders of the nation and creators of its destiny.
Due to various conflicting issues related to 33 % Reservation for women and its alleged interface with Art. 371 (A) state Government is in a complex political dilemma which has created a delicate situation, consequently, ULB elections have been delayed. It is understandable. Government is serious on women’s reservation issues, which is appreciable. However, Nominations-sans-Election is neither a temporary solution nor an appropriate arrangement, also it is against the fundamental doctrine of Democracy, therefore, it may be recommended that the status quo regarding the function and administration of ULBs under duly appointed ‘Administrators’ be maintained until the ULB Elections are conducted and representatives of people are elected.
Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Dr. Aniruddha Babar, Aienla A, Rinsit B Sareo, Meren Lemtur and Kvulo Lorin.
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