The All-Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) has called on the state government to stop treating the post of Director, Higher Education as a “political appointment” and to adhere to the Nagaland Higher Education Service Rules, 2015, which mandate appointment on a merit-cum-seniority basis from among additional directors or principals.
At a press conference in Kohima, ANCSU president Tenyesinlo Bukh, accompanied by office-bearers Imnawabang Lkr, Dzüzüve Swuro and Kivika Yeptho, said the union had written to the government on September 4, 2024, urging it not to bypass service rules. Despite this, the department continues to function under an officiating director, he said.
Bukh clarified that the union is “not against any individual from other cadres” but against the violation of policy. The prolonged officiating arrangement, he said, demoralises officers, affects the teaching community and ultimately impacts students.
ANCSU demanded the appointment of a full-fledged director strictly as per rules.
On the growing number of coaching centres in Nagaland, the union renewed its call for regulation, noting that it had submitted representations in 2021, 2024 and 2025. While acknowledging their contribution, Bukh said institutes must be recognized by the state and brought under a regulatory mechanism for proper monitoring, quality assurance and eligibility for grants. The government, he said, has yet to act.
The union also flagged the shortage of bus drivers in government colleges, leaving institutions to hire private drivers at added cost. ANCSU said it had written to the government on March 25, 2025 seeking appointments through proper procedures. Similar shortages exist in polytechnic institutes, where both buses and drivers are inadequate, it said, urging immediate recruitment and expansion of transport facilities.
ANCSU further highlighted grievances of diploma students and reiterated its demand for a 60:40 recruitment ratio between engineering degree graduates and diploma holders for junior engineer posts. It also sought a review of the minimum age criteria for NPSC exams, arguing that diploma students completing their course at 19 are forced to wait two years before becoming eligible.
The union reminded that the state Cabinet had decided on June 12, 2019 to establish a scholarship nodal cell, but it remains non-functional. After ANCSU’s ultimatum on August 15, 2025, the government convened a meeting on September 10 and resolved to operationalise the cell. The union said all scholarship-implementing agencies must now depute an official to the Higher Education department and furnish both hard and soft copies of scholarship guidelines to the nodal cell for transparent implementation. (With inputs from Eastern Mirror)
