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Time of India
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Nagaland MP urges Rio to recognise tribal dialects as ‘third language'
1 2 Dimapur: Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland S Supongmeren Jamir on Sunday urged CM Neiphiu Rio to recognise the tribal languages spoken in the state as the 'third language', as it will help in creation of employment opportunities for the youth. In a letter to Rio, Jamir drew his attention to the issue of engagement of non-local Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) in post offices of the northeast, including Nagaland, stating that recruitment for Grade IV staff in the postal department was online-based and required Class X pass certificate and marksheet. Based on the local language/dialect prescribed for Nagaland by the postal department, vide their notification No.17-02/2025-GDS (Annexure I), the candidates are shortlisted on the basis of their marks obtained in English/Hindi in Class X, Jamir said, adding that it undermined the third dialect/language candidates would have otherwise studied or are fluent in. This impacts the performance of the local candidates when they compete nationwide, he added. Jamir said in the past two years, there have been three rounds of recruitment for 364 posts, including a special drive in Jan 2023 where 143 posts had been advertised for Nagaland. He said the DG of GDS had written to the chief postmasters general, northeast circle, stating that English, as an official language, was recognised in Nagaland and agreed in principle that the northeast circle post office will engage with the state govt to officially identify the local dialects/languages that can be considered as a medium of evaluation during recruitment. Accordingly, this had been communicated by the director of postal services, Nagaland, to the home commissioner on April 16, 2025. However, the state govt is yet to officially recognise the dialects/languages of the recognised tribes in the state for the purpose of a 'third language/dialect', he said. In this regard, the state home department had written to the commissioner & secretary, art & culture, to submit their views and comments, Jamir added.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Nagaland pharmacy association appeals to state govt for policy review claiming pharmacist shortage
Kohima, The All Nagaland Pharmacy Association has urged the state government to reconsider the strict enforcement of rules mandating registered pharmacists in all pharmacies, warning that the move could lead to widespread closures and disrupt healthcare access across Nagaland. At a press conference in Kohima on Friday, ANPA president Zhapuvilie Yashü and general secretary Limayanger Jamir said that although they respect and are willing to comply with the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, and Pharmacy Act, 1948, the shortage of qualified pharmacists makes full implementation currently unfeasible. Quoting official data that there are 1,157 licensed pharmacies in Nagaland, Jamir claimed the state has only 278 registered pharmacists, of which, 252 are employed in government facilities, leaving just 26 for private pharmacies. Several districts, including Shamator and Meluri, have no registered pharmacists at all. Phek district, with 34 pharmacies, has only two while even in Kohima, some localities could be left without a single pharmacy if the rule is strictly enforced, he said. "This ratio is grossly disproportionate. Enforcing the rule without practical alternatives will throw the public health system into disarray," Jamir warned. ANPA said the licensing process has long been regulated by the Health & Family Welfare department, with pharmacies regularly paying fees. However, in late 2021, the department began enforcing stricter requirements for pharmacist appointments, it said. Yashu said while some private pharmacies have appointed pharmacists, most cannot do so due to the acute shortage. To address the issue collectively, pharmacy unions were formed in every district and unified under ANPA on March 13 this year, he said. ANPA said that despite repeated appeals to the Principal Director, Health Commissioner, and Health Minister, the association said their requests for a phased implementation or temporary relaxation have not been addressed while a representation to the chief minister is still pending. "If enforced fully, even key areas in Kohima and several districts will be left without pharmacy services," ANPA said. Pointing out that Nagaland is currently the only state in India without a pharmacy institute, ANPA said that even in other states, full enforcement of such policies has been hindered by manpower shortages. They questioned the government's expectations, noting that many government health centres rely on nurses trained for only three months to dispense medicines. "If the government can authorise nurses due to shortages, similar temporary measures should be extended to pharmacies until infrastructure is improved," ANPA argued. While the Drugs Control Administration had renewed licenses until 2028, pharmacies have recently begun receiving show cause notices and cancellation orders from May onwards, they said. ANPA clarified it is not opposing the policy but asking for a practical, state-specific approach that protects public health without disrupting essential services. "Until we have sufficient manpower and our own pharmacy institutions, we request the department to allow pharmacies to continue operating," the association appealed. They assured that if granted a reasonable extension, efforts to appoint registered pharmacists would continue. Meanwhile, Tiatoshi Amer, Controlling & Licensing Authority under the Health & Family Welfare Department, told PTI that the department acted only after repeated notices went unheeded. "We issued public notices and also verbally informed licensees to appoint pharmacists for the welfare of the public," he said. Amer added that the department will not consider an extension as enough time had already been provided, emphasising that public health remains the department's top priority. The officer also asserted that, as per data provided by the department's Pharmacy Cell, there are more than 300 registered unemployed pharmacists in the state, while for the government health units, the vacant posts are being requisitioned annually through the Nagaland Public Service Commission for recruitment.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Redressing colonial injustice: Repatriating Naga human remains from the UK
A Naga delegation, comprising senior leaders of tribal bodies from Naga territories, the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), and its Recover, Restore, and Decolonise (RRaD) team, recently concluded a week-long series of dialogues in the United Kingdom (UK) aimed at repatriating ancestral human remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) at Oxford University. The focus of the visit was on repatriating Naga human remains held in the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum. Around 219 Naga ancestral human remains are said to be housed in PRM. The team was in the UK from June 8 to 14 holding dialogues with the administrators of the PRM to strengthen the process of repatriating Naga ancestral human remains currently with the museum. 'The Naga ancestral remains were taken away under duress during the colonial era by colonial administrators and collectors. This trip to the PRM with the Naga tribal leaders and elders is a historic journey and we are grateful to the Naga communities for trusting us with this process,' Rev. Dr. Ellen Konyak Jamir, coordinator of RRaD told HT. She said the RRaD has been involved in the process of repatriating the remains for the past five years. Over the years, it has reached out to the Naga communities, institutions, churches and various organisations but the actual journey to bring back the ancestral remains is just beginning. 'The knowledge that our ancestral remains are exhibited in museums across the world, or they are boxed up, housed in museums, and they are treated as specimens and collectibles; that has been news for us, and we have all been very shocked to know about this. So, we (the RRaD team) have tried our best as a team to go out to our community to share and talk about this information. This is a community-led initiative,' she said. On what would happen to the remains when they are brought home, Jamir said that it is for the Naga communities to decide. 'Recognising PRM's 'Committed to Change' and 'Strategic Plan' to engage with communities and to reconcile with the colonial past as a sincere paradigm shift, the FNR sees this collaboration as a significant step toward addressing colonial violence. Since November 2020, through the lens of healing and reconciliation, the FNR has been serving as a facilitator to seek the Naga people's consent, participation and support, specifically from the Naga tribe bodies,' the FNR said earlier this month. Acknowledging PRM's efforts to initiate the process, the Angami Public Organisation (APO) president Thejao Vihienuo -- who was part of the Naga delegation to the UK -- said they have embarked on the journey not only for the repatriation of the remains but also as a journey to decolonise Naga history. Vihienuo recounted how seeing the remains of the Naga ancestors was a moment mixed with grief and a sense of humiliation. 'But we take comfort in the fact that these remains of our ancestors have stood here in Pitt Rivers Museum for many years, silently proclaiming the history of the Nagas. The very manner in which these remains of our ancestors were taken away from our homeland and their exhibition manifests the history of the Naga people. We are, therefore, proud of these ancestors and are here to pay our respectful homage to them,' he said. The tribal leader also said that among the remains, there were about 41 skulls including that of women and children. He said it was appalling that in the UK where it is illegal to sell a bird's egg, ancestral human remains were being allowed to be auctioned and sold. 'Much before the Indian nation state was born, the Nagas lived in the rugged hills and mountain ranges between the Brahmaputra and Chindwin rivers, far away from the great land trade routes and ocean trade routes. That was our country where our forefathers lived in splendid isolation for many centuries. They were not aware of the outside world nor was the world aware of them until the British came. The colonial regime intruded into our homeland and found our ancestors to be primitive, exceptionally colourful and of anthropological interest,' Vihienuo said. Unfortunately, he said, with then Burma (Myanmar) and the British East India Company's signing of the Treaty of Yandabo, the Naga homeland was fragmented and divided between Burma and India. He said when the British Simon Commission visited Kohima, Naga leaders asserted that after the British left the sub-continent, Nagas were to be left as they were before the British invaded their land. 'Regretfully, this position clashed with the arrogance of the imperial power and we remain, to this day, divided and fragmented in the legacy of the colonial power,' he said. A long and complex process Meanwhile, in the UK, the Naga delegation met representatives from various British museums that hold Naga artefacts and human remains. As per a statement from the FNR on June 15, Alexandra Green, curator of the British Museum, had conveyed that a significant amount of material from Myanmar/Burma may be of importance to the Nagas, but much of the existing collection was obtained from the erstwhile province of Assam. She is said to have confirmed that a digitisation process will be over soon, and almost all the material will be accessible on its website. Mark Elliot, senior curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University, informed the Naga delegate that only a small percentage of the material was on display; hence, his university was also trying to digitise the material for greater public accessibility. He told the Naga team that there were 725 objects, mainly belonging to the Angami, Ao, Konyak, and Khiamniungan communities. The head of Exhibitions and Collections at Manchester University, Georgina Young, and the lead curator of the South Asia gallery, Nusrat Ahmed told the Naga delegation that they had 12 Naga human remains, 11 of which were from the Konyak areas. The materials were donated by James P Mills, and in 1994, the Board of Manchester University decided that all the human remains were to be removed from the exhibition. 'Navjot Mangat and Heba Abd El Gawad, representatives of the Horniman Museum in London, informed the Naga audience that they had stopped using the word 'objects' and had begun to use 'belongings' to refer to the material that was forcibly taken from communities during colonial rule. They said that they have more than 400 belongings, mainly pipes and shawls, most of which were obtained as gifts from army officers stationed in the Naga homelands during colonial times. They still have two human remains that have been taken off display. They said they would like to work with the Naga community to ensure that there could be an ethical process to repatriate human remains and belongings,' the update from FNR said. Lisa Graves, the curator of the Bristol Museum, informed they had more than 200 potential Naga collections and one trophy head that had been removed from display, it added. Also Read: Why a 19th-century Naga human skull is more than just of human interest 'Dr. Laura van Broekhoven, director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, remarked that the week-long discussions with the Naga delegation had been fruitful. This marked the culmination of five years of engagement that enabled the transition from preservation care to the cultural care of human remains and other belongings,' the forum said. On June 13, the Naga delegation made a declaration during a public session held at the Lecture Theatre of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The declaration stated that the repatriation process is towards the healing of the Naga people. Over 200 human remains of Naga tribes were believed to have been taken away during the colonial period, many of them now kept at PRM. 'We are grateful to our ancestors for being a testament and silently proclaiming the stories of our people. We are sorry that it has taken us several decades, but we are here now to reclaim and return you to the homelands from where you were taken. We are committed to the process of your return from museums,' the declaration said. 'As Nagas, we do so in a united voice, with mutual respect and consensus and to offer you a dignified rest, establishing a Naga monument of healing and peace for all generations, symbolising the oneness of the Nagas,' the declaration said. The 'Naga Oxford Declaration' was later presented to PRM director Broekhoven. Also Read: Naga delegation seek return of ancestral remains from UK's Pitt Rivers Museum In October last year, an art house in the UK listed a 19th-century human skull originating from Nagaland for an auction sale, sparking a series of protests and condemnations from Nagas, scholars and experts in India and overseas, prompting the art house to withdraw the item from its catalogue. It was the FNR, which flagged the matter, making it public knowledge. The forum had written to the art house in the UK, and also alerted the chief minister Neiphiu Rio-led state government. CM Rio later wrote to the external affairs ministry to intervene and repatriate the Naga human remains. Jamir said there is a procedure for repatriation where documents are to be signed and submitted to the PRM. 'We cannot say when these will be completed. The tribal leaders have to consult their respective communities. It involves a lot of back-and-forth communication,' she said. She said during the meetings with the Oxford University, they learnt that the longest repatriation process lasted 40 years and the shortest - a year and a half. 'We really hope our process will not take after the longer duration,' Jamir said.
