In a first of its kind the Nagaland state government held a felicitation program and distribution of appointment orders for 587 successful candidates of Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) on Wednesday, here at State Cultural Hall, Kohima.

The state government had advertised 630 Group-C vacant posts under various State Govt Departments on 9 September 2022. The NSSB Combined Staff Recruitment Examination (CSRE) 2022 was the largest ever written examination conducted in the state, with more than 50,000 candidates. It was successfully conducted in 111 exam centres in 13 districts headquarters. The final result was declared on 9 July 2023 for appointment of 587 successful candidates to Group-C posts in 45 State departments.

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Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio congratulating the successful candidates, remarked that the state government was striving for a very long time in the interest of meritocracy and transparency, for working out and establishing a well-defined and structured mechanism for recruitment to Group C posts.

“The Group C posts taken together, constitute about 70% of all the posts under the State Government, and hence for our educated youth aspiring for a government job held great significance,” he said.

Rio maintained that the student bodies, and several other stakeholders also, were urging and were keen for a centralized system which could provide our educated youth across the State a fair opportunity to apply, compete, and let their merit alone be the factor for their entry into Government service.

Mentioning that the government was aware of the long-felt need for such a system in the interest of our educated youth, Rio said it took the first step towards it, when the State Cabinet in October 2019, set up the drafting committee for coming up with regulations for the Nagaland Subordinate Services Board (NSSB) taking into account the policy necessity as well as heeding to the demand made by various civil and student bodies over the years.

The Committee after due consultation with the stake holding departments as well as the systems prevailing in other States, submitted its report to the Cabinet which readily approved the Regulations, which were then notified, and with the appointment of the Chairman on 14 February, 2022, the Board was deemed to have become functional, said Rio.

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Lauding the NSSB staff for the successful and flawless conduct of the entire cycle of the recently concluded examination, Rio said, “it’s glorious achievement has further strengthened the faith of everyone, especially our youth in the transparent system and their belief in meritocracy.”

Rio also informed that NSSB is now moving ahead towards the next cycle of examination with the recent announcement of Clerical & Allied Services Exams (CASE) 2023 for 188 posts. The recruitment process for Combined Technical Services Exams and Combined Education Services Exams will also be advertised in due course of time, he added.

Rio exuded hope that the young pool of talents shall be an asset for the Government, “which will help bring about vital changes at the cutting-edge level in terms of digitalization of office management, and also harness the benefits of e-governance down to the grassroots level.”

Further, Rio encouraged and impressed upon the NSSB to continue working with dedication and commitment to ensure fair and level playing field for all educated and eligible candidates of the State.

Minister for Tourism & Higher Education Temjen Imna Along, mentioning that the current members of the 14th house have two generations apart, he said “we are privileged to see the transition of having a beautiful Nagaland one day and it has not been easy for the government.”

Minister Along pointing out that politicians face a lot of pressure from the general public as they come seeking for jobs, he said, “You should really be thankful to God and to this government led by the Chief minister as you are here on merit.”

He exuded hope that one day Nagaland will have all workers of the state, officers and all people of the state on merit basis and this decision will lead Nagaland to be a strong resilient Nagaland.

Earlier, speeches were delivered by Chairman of NSSB Sedevikho Khro and by Asenla Jamir, LDA, Nagaland Information Commission, on behalf of successful candidates.

Cultural performance and special song were presented by TaFMA and Senti and Hopong respectively.