The Nagaland Net Qualified Forum (NNQF) and the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) on Thursday, in a press conference held at the Kohima Press Club office, alleged that there is a lack of transparency and clarity in the state government’s recent notifications regarding recruitment in the Higher Education (HE) department.

Following the government notifying the requisition of 34 posts of assistant professor to the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) and subsequent proposal for creation of 129 more posts of assistant professor, the two bodies pointed out that there was no clarity on distribution of subjects.

NNQF core member Dr. Videkhono Yhokha said while the government’s letter mentioned 34 assistant professor posts in humanities, commerce, and science, it lacked details on subject-wise distribution. She questioned whether these were newly created posts or existing vacancies and demanded clarity on the nature and distribution of the posts.

On matters regarding the 147 revoked posts of assistant professors and librarians for which the NNQF and CTAN have been fighting for in the past months, Yhokha said it is not known what their current status is after the government declared them null and void.

Meanwhile, CTAN member Kaqheto Kughutu said the notification proposing for creation of 129 assistant professor posts under Higher Education mentions seven sets of posts for creation. He questioned whether the same rules as before were followed, and further demanded transparency, an improved proposal, and a public display of all 129 posts for the convenience of aspirants.

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CTAN convenor Meshenlo Kath stated that the two bodies had issued a three-days ultimatum on July 9 demanding the posts be sent to NPSC. On July 11, he said, the department replied that they had requisitioned 34 posts, leading them to halt further agitation. However, the department also stated that creation of 129 posts was under process. Towards this, Kath urged the government to stop troubling students, expedite the creation of these posts, and send them to NPSC at the earliest.

He revealed that they had requested a meeting with the head of the department for clarification, but were denied. Kath urged the manpower rationalisation committee (MRC) to speed up the process and further warned that they would not stop until the 129 posts were requisitioned to NPSC for recruitment.

Referring to the recently conducted forest guard exam under the department of Forest, Kath

questioned the transparency of departmental exams and why it was not brought under the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB). He raised concerns that departments like Forest, Excise, and Police were still outside the purview of the NSSB, and questioned how unadvertised vacancies such as drivers, LDA and computer assistants etc. are being filled.

Addressing rumours of a paper leak in the forest guard exam, he appealed to aspirants to file RTI and prevent backdoor appointments.

The NNQF and CTAN urged the government to take these matters seriously and said they will not stop until their demands are met.