Nagaland Congress condemns Minister’s statement, demands transparency in Forest Guard recruitment

Kohima, 14 September (MTNews): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee Public Grievances Department (NPCC PGD) strongly condemned the recent statement made by the Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, CL John, regarding the loss of human and elephant lives. The NPCC PGD through a press statement asked the senior minister to be ‘more responsible’ in his statement.

The NPCC PGD through the same statement also shed light on the employment situation in the Forest Guard sector, emphasizing that it is a Grade-III post with a Grade pay of 2000, and appointments for this position should be made through the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB).

According to the NPCC PGD, 34 posts were advertised for Kiphire and Longleng in 2017, and an additional 115 Forest Guard positions were advertised in 2023, all of which should be filled through NSSB’s open recruitment process.

Challenging the accuracy of recent information, the NPCC PGD cited an RTI report from September 2023 which indicates that the number of Forest Guard vacancies is 115, not the 130 mentioned by Minister CL John. They have expressed concern about potential manipulation of RTI reports and raised questions about the absence of information regarding 5 appointees in the Forester-1 category.

The NPCC PGD further asserted that 10 vacancies for Forester-1 positions, with a grade pay of 2800, clearly fall under the purview of the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), not NSSB. It firmly stated their rejection of Cabinet Agenda no. 6, dated 12 June 2023, which proposes keeping the advertised Forest Guard positions in abeyance until a cabinet decision is reached. The reason behind this rejection is the clear distinction between Forester-1 and Forest Guard positions in terms of grade pay and oversight, it said.

Concluding their statement, the NPCC Public Grievances Department called for the immediate requisition of 1 Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), 8 forest rangers, 21 deputy rangers, and all previously mentioned posts to be directed to the relevant commissions by the end of the month. It also requested that a copy of this requisition be provided to the NPCC Public Grievances Department for transparency.