The Nagaland Gaonburas Federation (NGBF) has expressed its appreciation for the Nagaland government’s decision to proceed with the Registration of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN). The federation welcomed the official notification from the state government to include the enumeration of four tribes—Kuki, Kachari, Garo, and Mikir—under the RIIN, stating that this initiative will help safeguard the interests of minority tribes and communities that meet the 1963 cut-off criteria.
The NGBF said that the RIIN exercise is crucial for determining individuals’ qualifications according to the prescribed norms, thereby ensuring their entitlement to legally established provisions available to all bona fide citizens of Nagaland.
In a statement, the NGBF underlined the importance of including tribal individuals or communities already identified by the government through a special enumeration process, based on their settlement in Nagaland prior to 1963. They stressed that this inclusion should extend to the legal descendants of these individuals who have permanently settled in the state.
The federation opined that this inclusion will pave the way for “moral and natural justice for the underprivileged and vulnerable minority community,” thus providing them with “fair recognition within the legal framework.”