Nagaland chief minister Dr. Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday announced that the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) will be created following a closed-door Cabinet meeting with members of Eastern Nagaland Legislators’ Union (ENLU). The meeting was held at Rhododendron Hall, Police Complex, Chümoukedima.
Speaking exclusively to Nagaland Post on the outcome, Dr. Rio said, “We have resolved all pending issues. The papers will be sent either today or tomorrow, and the FNTA will be created.”
Deputy chief minister Y Patton, who also attended the meeting, said the discussions were smooth and marked by unanimous agreement among all participants. He added that the Cabinet had approved forwarding all proposals submitted in connection with FNTA to Government of India.
Responding to a query on CM’s statement, Patton affirmed that FNTA would be created “very soon.” However, he clarified that no specific timeframe could be provided at this stage as the final decision rests with the Central government. “We are submitting our proposals, and once the Government of India finalises the points we have placed, the FNTA will be formally constituted,” he said.
FNTA creation hinges on tripartite agreement: ENPO
Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, JAN 6 (NPN): Eastern Naga Public Organization (ENPO) on Tuesday said that the proposed Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) would be created only after a common understanding was reached among three stakeholders—the Government of India, the Nagaland State Government, and ENPO.
In an exclusive interaction with Nagaland Post after a three long hour closed-door meeting at Hotel Saramati, here, ENPO president Chingmak Chang said FNTA would come into existence only when all three parties agreed on the proposals.
While the state government may forward its proposals, he stressed that the offer for FNTA had been made by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), adding that MHA’s response would be crucial. It was also informed that ENPO was part of the cabinet meeting held earlier in the day.
Concurring with deputy chief minister’s statement that the final decision rested with the Government of India, Chang said the Government of India was the offering party, while ENPO represented the seeking party. However, he added that negotiations would continue if the offer made by the MHA was not acceptable.
“The arrangement is for a period of ten years. If the offer of the MHA is accepted by the ENPO public, we will take it; if not, we will continue to negotiate,” he said.
Expressing optimism, Chang said discussions have reached an advanced stage and hoped that once the three parties arrived at a mutual understanding, the issue would be finalized at the earliest.
Meanwhile, ENPO general secretary M. Honang Konyak also said that FNTA was an offer proposed by the MHA.
Recalling the home minister’s earlier remarks, he said that since the Centre was the offering party, its opinion carried significant weight.
Konyak also disclosed that earlier there were 12 contentious points between the parties, which have now been narrowed down to five. He informed that those five points were resolved during the meeting held today. However, when asked to disclose the details of the five points, he declined, stating that the matters were sensitive and could not be revealed.