Five major service associations in Nagaland have escalated their protest against the State Government’s handling of IAS induction, launching a poster campaign across Kohima on Monday as part of their 2nd Phase of agitation.
The Core Committee and Action Committee representing the CANSSEA, FONSESA, NF&ASA, NSSA and NIDA said they were “compelled” to intensify their resentment after the Screening Committee convened on September 25 to finalize the Select List of Non-SCS officers for induction into the IAS.
According to the associations, the exercise was carried out “in total disregard” of the multiple representations submitted to the Government demanding restoration of the Vacancy Circular dated March 10, 2025, which, they said, upheld the IAS Regulations and allowed only NPSC-recruited officers to apply.
“This move had all the malafide intentions seeking to usher in officers recruited from outside the NPSC into a premier service such as the IAS and thereby setting a runway for such intending officers in the days to come,” the statement issued by the associations read.
They alleged that the Government’s decision to replace the March 10 circular with a modified version had “malafide intentions,” opening the way for officers recruited outside the NPSC to enter the IAS.
The associations maintained that the September 25 screening was held under the shadow of their peaceful protest despite their objections. They reiterated that the March 10 circular contained all provisions of the IAS Regulations, including the most important criterion: that only officers recruited through the NPSC would be eligible for selection, “thereby promoting merit above all else and beyond tribal, personal and political affiliations.”
Calling it an “unfortunate development,” the associations said political interference in the selection process was evident since the day the Cabinet replaced the March 10 vacancy circular.
“Merit begins from the mode of entry into service and the Government has instead sought to supersede merit over personal gratification in every imaginable form,” they stated.
They further said their objections were directed at the Government’s attempt “to relegate merit to the backstage and let filial and political affiliations drive all policy making, to the extent of selecting unmerited officers into the Nation’s most premier administrative post.”
Declaring that their agitation will continue, the associations said the poster campaign in Kohima is part of the second phase of their movement and will be followed by “subsequent democratic forms of agitation and resentment until the select list is withdrawn and the Vacancy Circular dated March 10, 2025, is restored in toto.”