Implementation of RIIN will take time, says Nagaland CM

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday said that implementation of Register ofIndigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) will take time andno deadline should be set on this matter.

The state government had in 2019 said that the RIIN, aregister of all the indigenous inhabitants of Nagaland, isrequired to prevent issuance of indigenous inhabitantcertificates to ineligible persons.

According to a notification of June 29 that year, theRIIN will help identify the citizens who settled in Nagalandprior to December 1, 1963, the day it became a full-fledgedstate.

On the appeals of the civil society organisations andtribal bodies asking the government to implement it, Rio saidthat the government is working on the issue.

''We have to give protection to all and everybodyshould get their rights,'' the chief minister said.

Rio told the media that the government should beallowed to function without setting any deadline as suchmatters have to be done properly.

Only those whose names figure in the RIIN will beissued indigenous inhabitant certificates and all othercertificates would become invalid after the final register isready, the government had said earlier.

The RIIN Committee has already submitted its reportand the Cabinet has also approved it, but the implementationis taking time, Rio said.

The chief minister refused to comment on a recentletter written by Governor R N Ravi asking his government toact against employees posting ''seditious'' materials on socialmedia, but said that steps will be taken against anyoneuploading such posts.

However, he said, ''If any government servant or memberof the public writes things which is against the state, thelaw will take its own course.'' Rio said that the state assembly will pass resolutionsduring the upcoming budget session of the assembly toimplement the Securitisation and Reconstruction of FinancialAssets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (Sarfaesi) Act,2002 in the state.

The Sarfaesi Act allows banks and financialinstitutions to auction properties (residential andcommercial) when borrowers fail to repay their loans. Itenables banks to reduce their non-performing assets byadopting measures for recovery or reconstruction.

During the budget session to be held from February 12to 20, a resolution will also be passed on the vexed Nagapolitical issue, the chief minister said without elaborating.

The government will also take up a discussion onimproving revenue generation in the power sector as it hasbecome ''very very important'' for the state, he told reportersafter inaugurating the Nagaland Assembly's automated digitisedlibrary and online training centre.

He described the Union budget as people friendly andexpressed hope that the farmers issue will be resolvedthrough dialogue.