Editor,
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to address Union Parliamentary and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju:
You have been representing Arunachal Pradesh in the Parliament of India from the Arunachal West Lok Sabha seat for the last 17 years.
Your immense contribution to the development of Arunachal – from bringing the greenfield airport to the Arunachal Frontier Highway – has been impressive.
But, taking a pragmatic approach, what sense does such development make when we, the indigenous population, don’t feel safe from the threat of demographic shift and development that doesn’t protect our tribal interests.
A few years back, during the Modi 2.0 government, you were the cabinet minister of law & justice: not just a law seeker in Parliament but a law giver.
Today you are the cabinet minister of minority affairs – one of the centres of position to make laws for the minorities, particularly for the people of the Northeast. But during all these years, it’s very sad to see that we haven’t seen any political will from your end in bringing laws that protect indigenous rights and provide constitutional safeguard to Arunachal.
Therefore, I would like to submit these few suggestions with utmost respect to preserve the identity and future prospects of Arunachal:
1. Strengthening the BEF Regulation, 1873 in provision of Inner Line Permit (ILP) by giving stronger constitutional backing, with amendment under Article 368.
2. Strengthening Article 371 (H) of the Constitution, which is merely an administrative provision without holding any explicit safeguard for the tribal population. It should be strengthened by incorporating safeguards similar to those available under Article 371 (A) given to Nagaland. This would give protection to our land, natural resources, traditional institution, etc.
3. Inclusion of Arunachal under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution of India, as has been given to tribals in states like Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Since our state is a 100% tribal state, this would safeguard our land and cultural heritage, strengthen self-governance, etc.
4. Review of the existing 80:20 recruitment ratio policy in examination within Arunachal. The situation today is different from those in the 80s and the 90s era when eligible educated were less than job vacancies. Today my PhD scholar friends from Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh are appearing for MTS/peon and constable examinations. Therefore, the policy needs to change with the demand of the times.
5. Make PRC mandatory in order to safeguard the indigenous population in APPSC and APSSB recruitment. Doing so would not make our state different from the rest of India.
There is already such policy in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and even other northern states of India.
We have been witnessing bandhs, be it the 2019 anti-PRC issue or the recent bandhs enforced by various organisations. All this is happening and will continue to happen due to lack of constitutional safeguard for the tribal population, and this can be solved if the five points mentioned above are met.
Liang Yangfo,
Sarli,
Kurung Kumey