In a show of solidarity with the All-India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF), the Confederation of All Nagaland State Services Employees’ Association (CANSSEA) staged a statewide sit-in dharna on Tuesday to press for key service-related reforms.
The central protest was held at the CANSSEA office complex in Kohima, while district units simultaneously organised demonstrations across their respective headquarters. The agitation was part of a phase-wise programme initiated by AISGEF, which had earlier called for a general strike on July 9. The protest also aligned with AISGEF’s 11-point charter of demands submitted to the Union Government, highlighting key concerns of state Government employees across the country.
Addressing the media, CANSSEA President Zubemo Lotha Tsanglao said the dharna is in continuation of the AISGEF’s call and will continue until their demands are met. He said this phase-wise programme has been chalked out by the central federation where they had called the general strike on July 9 last and in continuation, they have organized this dharna.
“Out of the 11 charter of demands set by the AISGEF, some are not pertaining to Nagaland, so we have chosen five demands for the State,” he said.
He also highlighted an additional demand regarding IAS induction, urging the State Government to include a criterion allowing candidates who qualified through the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) to be inducted into the IAS cadre. He said their demand would continue with the government.
Joining the protest, Nagaland Pension Scheme (NPS) Forum President, Avizo Nienu reiterated the call to scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). “We are talking about restoring the lives of lakhs of people. We are talking about securing the lives of old age parents and grandparents of retired people,” he said, lamenting the Government’s silence despite repeated representations.
He also appealed to the Government for possible means to find a way and to respond to the CANSSEA.
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The AISGEF’s 11-point charter of demands includes the repeal of all four Labour Codes, repeal of the PFRDA Act, scrapping of NPS/UPS, and return of deposited funds to State Governments while bringing all subscribers under the EPS-95 Defined Benefit Pension System. It also seeks regularisation of all contractual employees, filling of vacancies in State departments and PSUs, stopping privatisation and downsizing of Government departments, constitution of State Pay Commissions ensuring 8th Central Pay Commission benefits and pay revision every five years, release of pending DA instalments and arrears, implementation of a comprehensive health insurance scheme for employees and pensioners including contractual staff, abandonment of the National Education Policy (NEP), repeal of Articles 310 and 311 (2) a, b, c of the Constitution, protection of secularism and a redefinition of Centre-State financial relations to safeguard cooperative federalism.
For Nagaland, CANSSEA is focusing on five specific demands. These include constituting a State Pay Commission with 8th Central Pay Commission benefits and ensuring pay revision every five years, repealing the PFRDA Act and scrapping NPS/UPS with a return of deposited funds and transition to EPS-95, implementing a Government-supported health insurance scheme under the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS) to ensure cashless treatment for pensioners, employees and contractual workers, improving the facilities of empanelled district hospitals under CMHIS, and implementing in full the eligibility criteria for IAS induction as per the March 10, 2025 vacancy circular NO.PAR-A/08/2025-AIS.
Wokha unit joins protest
In Wokha, the district unit of CANSSEA organised the protest at LSU Martyrs Park with participation from nearly ten members of each government department. The protesters carried placards pressing for the rollback of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), revision of pay every five years, inclusion of all subscribers under EPS-95, implementation of eligibility norms for IAS cadre induction, comprehensive health insurance for pensioners and contractual employees, and repeal of the PFRDA Act, among others.
The sit-in was conducted peacefully. The union expressed hope that the Government of India would give due consideration to the long-pending demands.
