The Centre is considering a mechanism to route funds to the proposed Frontier Nagaland Territory (FNT) — a separate administrative unit for six districts in eastern Nagaland — through the state governor, leaving no role for the state government in its disbursal, according to people involved in negotiations with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
This is among the proposals on the table of the Centre, the Nagaland government and the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), which are involved in talks to resolve issues, including election boycotts, arising out of the demand to carve out a separate unit for the six eastern Nagaland districts.
The home ministry’s draft proposal on the FNT to the Nagaland government includes a clause on the proposed financial model as the Centre did not want to leave any room for disputes over disbursal of funds — which is a bone of contention in the case of most autonomous councils created under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This was reported by ThePrint.
There are 10 such councils in the Northeast spread across Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. Nagaland does not have areas under the Sixth Schedule as it is covered by Article 371A, a special provision in the Constitution that shields Naga religious and social practices, customary laws, and ownership and transfer of land from laws enacted by Parliament.
“During the talks, the MHA underlined that the proposed model of the FNT will be a unique arrangement because in the case of Sixth Schedule councils, funds are often held back by the states. So, it was proposed that the funds for the FNT be sent to the governor, who will transfer them to the FNT administration within a week. The idea is to have the model in place for 10 years before taking it up for review, if needed,” a senior Nagaland politician involved in the talks said.
While the draft proposal for the FNT has not been made public, it has already become a flashpoint in Nagaland, with the ENPO accusing the state government of holding back the draft it received from the home ministry, instead of sharing its comments as desired by the Centre.