Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) formed under the aegis of Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) in 2018 has been focussed on bringing the entire state under the ambit of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) as per the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act 1873 and brining Dimapur district under ILP. Implementing ILP throughout Nagaland required a register of who is an indigenous inhabitant. JCPI said the implementation of the register was indispensable for effective enforcement of the new system of inner-line permit. It also said the proposed register must be generated on the basis of notification (No. AR-8/8/76) dated Kohima, April 28, 1977 with December 1, 1963 when Nagaland was formed, as a clear cut-off date. Following deliberations with the JCPI, the state government initiated the process of preparing the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN) on July 10. Subsequently, on July 27,2019, the government constituted a commission to frame the modalities of creating the RIIN, meant to be a register of all the indigenous inhabitants of the state and required to prevent issuance of indigenous inhabitant certificates to ineligible persons. The Commission was headed by retired chief secretary Banuo Z Jamir as chairman and T.Kiheto Sema and S Shingwang Konyak as members. Justice (Retd) Zelre Angami was the legal advisor to the Commission. The home commissioner and commissioner Nagaland will be ex-officio members of the panel. The Commission was to submit its report within three months to the chief minister – that is, by November 2019. After approval, RIIN will then be put together after an extensive survey of village-wise and ward-wise list of indigenous inhabitants, based on official records, under the supervision of district administration. The move elicited spontaneous support from JCPI which resolved to support implementation of the RIIN as announced by the state government. The Banuo Commission on RIIN had already submitted its report by end of 2019. However, for reasons best known to the government, the report appears to have been put on the backburner. Then JCPI served an ultimatum on the chief minister with March 15, 2020 as the deadline to fulfil the demand for passing legislation on RIIN and enforcement of ILP with December 1, 1963 as effective cut-off date. However, the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, provided a breather for the government. Then before the recently concluded budget session in February,2021 JCPI demanded that RIIN be tabled in the house for approval. Again this did not happen and later when asked by media persons, the chief minister Neiphiu Rio skirted the reason for the delay but admitted that the RIIN Committee had already submitted its report and the Cabinet has also approved it. He however, said implementation was taking time and that there should be no deadline set on the matter. Rio further added that the government was working on the issue. JCPI on March 12, 2021 held a consultative meeting with various apex tribe hohos and civil society organisations and decided to make public the representation to the State government to immediately act on Banuo Commission’s report and pass an ordinance within March 31 to implement the proposed RIIN. To press for the demand, the meeting decided that all apex tribe hohos in all districts will submit representation with the respective DCs and then hold peaceful protest rallies on March 19,2021. Perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye as the government appears to have developed cold feet over RIIN.