Mokokchung, February 15 (MTNews): Close on the heels of the government of Nagaland appointing the Chairman and Secretary of the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) on February 14, the Rising People’s Party have, in a press release, stated that the government was “left with no option” but to issue the notification appointing the Chairman and Secretary. While terming the latest development as a “victory for the student community,” RPP also thanked the Chief Minister of Nagaland for appointing the Chairman and Secretary of NSSB.
Saying that the process involved “years of struggle,” the Rising People’s Party highlighted the genesis of the issue on setting up of NSSB which, it said, began in 2016, with ACAUT raising the issue with the state government. The matter was further taken up by Public Service Aspirants of Nagaland (PSAN) and NSF in 2020. “Thus, on 20th July 2020, the government issued a notification constituting the NSSB for recruitment of Group-C posts in the government,” RPP said.
“Unfortunately, even almost after a year of the notification, the body was not functionalized. Rather, on 16th July 2021 the state government issued a contrary notification stating that 1576 vacant posts under 76 departments, among other things, should be filled up under departmental exams,” RPP recalled. It further said that the 16th July notification violated the letter and spirit of the NSSB notification, “periling the career of thousands of hardworking and sincere students hoping for an end to the backdoor era.”
Frustrated over the government’s response, RPP filed a PIL in the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, which was admitted on September 1, 2021, that ruled that the July 16, 2021 notification “shall remain suspended till the returnable date.”
According to RPP, the “pressure was piling upon the state government from different quarters” as NSF threatened democratic agitation against the state government, forcing the government to issue a notification on the 4th October 2021, advertising the posts of Chairperson and Secretary of NSSB.
The RPP further claimed that, though the High Court was in facor of settling the case without delay, the government’s counsel kept appealing on different pretext which delayed the court’s hearing. Consequently, the high court issued an ultimatum to the state government “to come with instruction on the next date, that is, 16th February 2022, as to when the board would be constituted” or else “this court would be compelled to issue the necessary order or direction for constituting the board within a specific period of time.” This, according to RPP, left the government “with no option” but to issue the February 14 notification appointing the Chairman and Secretary of NSSB.
The RPP, in conclusion, said that the public in general, and the student community in particular, should be grateful to the “publicly-spirited Judges” who, they said, stood for the young people and for the “dreams and aspirations of the people of Nagaland, specially the young people, who are still unemployed,” as observed in the High Court’s order dated 2nd February 2022.