The Confederation of All Nagaland State Services Employees Association (CANSSEA), joined by FONSESA, NSSA, NFASA, and NNPSGEF, participated in a one-day nationwide strike in Kohima on Wednesday under the banner of the All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF). The demonstration formed part of a nationwide protest demanding the rollback of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), along with 11 national-level demands.
Addressing a press conference, CANSSEA general secretary Yhunsenlo Kent presented a five-point charter of demands submitted to the Governor of Nagaland through the Chief Secretary. He stated that the state’s employee bodies had put forth their own set of Nagaland-specific demands within the larger national agitation framework.
Kent emphasized the demand for the repeal of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Act and the scrapping of the NPS. “Employees want the state to abolish the market-linked pension system and bring all employees under the defined-benefit OPS,” he said. He further stated that fund managers should return the deposited amounts to the state government and that all NPS subscribers should be covered under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS-95).
CANSSEA also called for the immediate constitution of a State Pay Commission, aligned with the 8th Central Pay Commission, to ensure pay revisions every five years rather than every ten years.
While appreciating the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme for its coverage of regular, pensioned, and contractual employees, the organization stressed the need to upgrade healthcare infrastructure across empanelled hospitals to ensure better service delivery in Nagaland.
On administrative reforms, the employees demanded full implementation of eligibility criteria for induction into higher cadres, including IAS, as per the Vacancy Circular issued on March 10, 2025. They cited irregularities in senior appointments, calling for transparency and merit-based selections.
Avizo Nienu, President of the Nagaland NPS Forum, underscored disparities between OPS and NPS. “Under OPS, employees receive 50 per cent of their last drawn salary as pension without contributing. But NPS employees, despite contributing 10 per cent of their monthly salary, face an uncertain future with no guaranteed pension,” he noted. He also revealed that over ¹ 200 crore remains unaccounted for in the NPS accounts of Nagaland employees, and more than 1,000 accounts still show nil balances.
Core Committee member B Imtiwabang Jamir warned that continued government inaction could escalate protests. On the IAS induction controversy, he said, “Civil service leadership must be built on merit, not manipulation.”
Nagaland adopted NPS for employees appointed on or after January 1, 2010. With nearly 35,000 NPS subscribers in the state, employees reiterated their call for urgent pension reforms.
(With inputs from PTI)