Top NSCN(IM) leaders have assembled in New Delhi for negotiations with the Centre and hammer out a final settlement to the vexed Naga issue.
This comes amid appeals of reconciliation between NSCN(IM) and Naga National Political Groups (NNPG) by the Naga society. The NNPG is a conglomerate of seven Naga groups with whom the Centre is holding parallel dialogue. “We will have informal talks before shifting to the final discussions with the government of India. The entire leadership is here to facilitate a wider consultation. The way things are moving at the moment, we can see the settlement getting signed soon,” said a top NSCN(IM) functionary.
A 15-member NSCN(IM) delegation led by its chairman Q Tuccu and vice-president Tongmeth Wangnao have joined the group’s general secretary, Th Muivah, who has been camping and holding informal talks with IB representatives led by its director Arvind Kumar on a daily basis.
The Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), which is leading the voice for reconciliation between NSCN(IM) and NNPG, said, “After a protracted process towards a political agreement, the NSCN(IM) and NNPGs are currently engaged in what seems to be parallel processes with the Centre. The Naga people are now saying it is time for these two Naga political groups to meet and take forward the unfinished task of reconciliation.”
“The FNR urges leaders of the two groups to meet and explore a workable mechanism of cooperation around the ‘competencies’ and the ‘agreed position’ in consonance with the Naga common ground. This is fundamental because the parallel processes have polarised the Naga public, tribal and civil society organizations.”
The NNPGs have said their discussion with the Centre has concluded and the “Agreed Position” has been signed.

NEW DELHI: The exodus of a large number of migrant workers was triggered by panic created by fake news regarding duration of the Covid-19 lockdown and their worry over adequate supply of basic facilities like food, water, shelter and healthcare, the junior home minister Nityanand Rai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
In reply to a query regarding measures taken to protect migrant workers, Rai said the central government, from March 21 onwards, expanded the ‘control room’ operations in the home ministry and made it functional 24x7 under the supervision of senior officers. “These control rooms attended to the grievances of stranded persons including migrant workers and promptly resolved these grievances relating to food, transport, shelter, etc. States and Union territories were also advised to set up control rooms,” he said.
He said the Centre had ensured that during lockdown, no citizen was deprived of food, drinking water, medical facilities etc. The government allowed states to use the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) on 28th March itself and released an advance Rs.11, 092 crore from the SDRF to the states on 3rd April, he said.
The government’s assertion that it has no data on deaths of migrants while they were on the move or the extent of joblessness triggered by the lockdown led to a sharp attack by opposition parties.
“Did the deaths not take place if you did not count? But yes, it is sad the government was unaffected by it. The world saw their deaths, only the Modi government was not aware of it,” Congress’ Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.
Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee accused the government for the being “inhuman”.

Nagpur: Farmers affected by the floods in eastern Vidarbha will be compensated as per five year old rates. The state’s revenue department that issued a notification spelling out details of compensation package, said it had gone by the rates fixed in the government resolution (GR) of May 2015.
This will bring a total compensation of Rs 20,400 to a farmer growing regular crops of Kharif season like paddy, soyabean or cotton. It comes to Rs 36,000 for those having year round crops that mainly include fruit orchards.
According to the GR issued on Monday for seasonal crops, Rs 6,800 per hectare will be provided from the state disaster relief fund (SDRF). This assistance has been capped at two hectares. Another Rs 6,800 a hectare will be provided from the state government’s kitty which is again capped to a single hectare. The total amounts to Rs 20,400 for each farmer. To get the compensation, the loss has to be more than 33%.
Farmers TOI had met during the trip to flood hit villages in Bhandara said they had ended up investing around Rs 1 lakh on 5 to 7 acre of farms. Farmers also demanded that they should be compensated for the loss of income due to the floods rather than be given a fixed amount. It is estimated that 5% of the farm land in the five flood hit districts has been affected.
A number of farmers had farm insurance while quite a few did not. Farmers said their per acre expenses alone were more than Rs 20,000.
Diwakar Mane, a farmer from Tiddi village in Bhandara, said expenses for sowing till harvest comes to around Rs 35,000 for a paddy grower. “The compensation granted by the state government during such calamities has never been enough,” he said.
Farmer activist Vijay Jawandhia also said that the amount may not cover the entire losses. The floods occurred at a time when entire sowing expenses were done and only harvest had remained.
The order on compensation will be followed by allocation of funds that includes the grant from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) also. The compensation will be released in phases according to availability of funds, said a state government official.
The order also calls for paying Rs 10,000 each to the affected families for the loss of personal belonging including clothes due to waterlogging. Those whose homes were inundated for two days or totally destroyed will also be given 10kgs each of rice and wheat apart from 5 litres kerosene.