Nagaland sets up panel to review reservation policy

A new Reservation Review Commission has been formed by the Nagaland government to reassess how tribes in the state are represented in public employment and higher education. The move marks the most significant push in recent years to revisit long-standing rules on quotas and criteria for determining backwardness.

According to the notification issued in Kohima on November 12, the panel will be chaired by retired IAS officer R Ramakrishnan, with senior officials from the Home, Law and Justice, Higher and Technical Education, and Personnel and Administrative Reforms departments serving as members. The Home Department will also provide logistical support, while the Finance Department will handle budget requirements.

The Commission has been granted broad authority, including access to all government records it considers relevant. It may call any official or department to brief it, a power described in the order as necessary for “the discharge of its duties”.

Its mandate covers a wide set of tasks: reviewing constitutional and legal provisions on reservations across India, scrutinising economic and educational indicators used for determining eligibility, and assessing the impact of Nagaland’s current policy on employment and admissions to technical and professional courses.

The panel has also been asked to hold extensive consultations with tribal bodies, student groups, employees’ associations and other stakeholders to gauge views on equitable representation. It will propose criteria for identifying tribes eligible for reservation, recommend the overall percentage and internal distribution, and consider the duration for which such benefits should apply.

Another key responsibility is examining gaps in implementation and suggesting technology-based improvements to make the system “robust, error free and fool proof”.

The Commission has been given six months to submit its report. A separate notification will outline remuneration for the chairperson.

The order, issued with Cabinet approval dated October 21, 2025, supersedes an earlier notification from September 22, 2025.