KOHIMA, 2 Sep: The Nagaland government is unwilling to implement the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act and the proposed uniform civil code (UCC), said Parliamentary Affairs Minister KG Kenye here on Friday.
The decision was taken during a consultative meeting of the government with apex tribal bodies and civil society organisations of the state at the chief minister’s residential complex.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Kenye said that several Naga civil societies and intellectuals expressed concern that the Acts might infringe into the special rights guaranteed under Article 371 A of the Constitution.
Article 371 A grants special protection to the Nagas in Nagaland on religious and social practices, and also on ownership and transfer of land and its resources.
During the meeting, the tribal bodies and civil societies urged the state government not to enforce the two Acts in the state, he said.
Kenye said that the state government would move a resolution to denounce the Acts in the monsoon session of the assembly scheduled from 11 to 14 September.
On the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001, which was repealed by the assembly on 9 March, Kenye said that the government briefed the attendees that a high-powered committee is working to finalise it before it tabling in the monsoon session. (PTI)
