A Nagaland Cabinet sub-committee has recommended the termination of 15 appointments flagged by the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), including 12 appointments to posts under the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) made without open advertisement and three against unsanctioned posts.
The recommendations will be placed before the Cabinet for a final decision, Advisor for School Education Dr Kekhrielhoulie Yhome said after a meeting between the sub-committee and the NSF in Kohima on Monday.
The federation had submitted 109 entries for scrutiny, of which two were duplicates, leaving 107 cases for examination. Yhome said the committee had classified the cases according to the circumstances of the appointments and furnished relevant documents to the NSF.
Four other cases involving improper recruitment procedures had already resulted in termination, according to Yhome. The remaining 69 cases require further consideration, including 22 appointments allegedly made in violation of the state government’s April 21, 2020, ban on fresh recruitment.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, NSF president Mteisuding said the federation was awaiting concrete action on the 109 alleged irregular appointments it had identified across 16 departments. He said the NSF had submitted an ultimatum to the state government on March 20, 2026, demanding the termination of illegal appointees, but had kept its agitation on hold following government assurances.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton and attended by Minister G Kaito Aye, Advisor Dr Kekhrielhoulie Yhome, the Principal Secretary of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR), and officials from the concerned departments.
According to the NSF, the 109 entries comprised 13 appointments through the NPSC between 2018 and 2021 and 96 appointments under the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) between 2019 and 2023. The federation alleged that the appointments violated government Office Memorandums issued on June 6, 2016, and April 22, 2020, as well as prescribed recruitment procedures.
Yhome said the 22 appointments requiring scrutiny under the 2020 recruitment ban fell under the Temporary PIMS category. They were also among 786 appointments identified by the government as having been made in violation of the ban, which was imposed as part of austerity measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The advisor cautioned that reversing appointments already made could lead to prolonged litigation. Citing his experience in the School Education Department, he said he had encountered 178 court cases relating to service matters after taking charge.
He stressed the need to examine each case individually. Nineteen cases involved employees appointed around 30 to 33 years ago whose services were being regularised under government policy, he said, adding that these cases had to be distinguished from appointments made in violation of government orders.
The NSF said it had specifically sought action against 30 employees – eight occupying NPSC-related posts and 22 occupying NSSB posts. The eight NPSC-related cases allegedly involved appointments outside the commission’s prescribed recruitment process. The posts included positions in the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department; Home Guards and Civil Defence; Nagaland State Transport; Information and Public Relations; and Works and Housing.
The federation said the Cabinet sub-committee had assured it that the eight employees would be terminated. It also called for action against 22 employees it alleged had been appointed to NSSB posts after the board was constituted, bypassing the prescribed recruitment process.
The committee’s separate identification of 22 appointments allegedly made in violation of the 2020 recruitment ban referred to cases still requiring further consideration. The precise relationship between these cases and the NSF’s list of 30 employees was not immediately clear.
The NSF further said 47 of the 109 appointments had been made after its August 2019 representation seeking a ban on recruitment pending the establishment of the NSSB, but before the board was formally constituted. The federation said it would examine these cases individually after the committee asked it to reconsider them.
The NSF said some employees included in its list had already been terminated or had resigned. Among non-NPSC Group C posts, two employees had been terminated and two had resigned. In the NPSC category, three employees had been terminated and one had resigned, according to the federation.
The government had also cited subsequent regularisation, compassionate appointments and other appointments made under specific provisions or with government approval, the NSF said. The federation would examine the basis for these decisions to determine whether they complied with applicable rules.
Yhome said responsibility should also be fixed on officials who authorised appointments in violation of government orders, stressing that departmental directors and other appointing authorities were responsible for ensuring compliance with recruitment procedures.
He suggested that the government consider reviewing the pensions of officials found responsible for such appointments, including those who had since retired. He clarified, however, that this was his personal opinion and not the government’s position.
Yhome said irregular appointments denied deserving candidates a fair opportunity and created financial liabilities for the state.
He also credited the NSF’s campaign with helping bring about the establishment of the NSSB. Since the appointment of its chairperson in February 2022, the board had conducted eight examination cycles, resulting in 1,511 appointments, he said. The board had strengthened transparency in Group C recruitment, with backdoor appointments now under control, he added.
Yhome estimated that only 6% to 8% of government appointments went through the NPSC, with most Group C recruitment handled by the NSSB.
The School Education Department continued to face challenges inherited from earlier recruitment practices, including excess teachers and appointments of individuals without the required qualifications, he said. He also referred to the integration of 367 teachers appointed under the centrally sponsored Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan into regular service, noting that Nagaland had 5,008 teachers under centrally sponsored schemes.
The NSF said it would submit a second list of alleged irregular appointments covering departments beyond the 16 already under scrutiny. It was also examining departments outside the NSSB’s recruitment framework and discussing possible mechanisms with the government to bring them under the board.
The federation called for sanctioned posts vacated through termination or resignation to be referred immediately to the NPSC or NSSB for open recruitment. It also appealed to the public to share information about suspected irregularities in government departments, assuring that the identities of those providing information would be kept confidential.
The NSF maintained that its campaign targeted recruitment practices that undermined transparency and merit, rather than individuals, and urged appointees who were aware of irregularities in their recruitment to consider stepping down voluntarily.
The Cabinet sub-committee was constituted this year after the NSF approached the government through the Chief Secretary. Yhome said the P&AR Department had been asked to provide documents in certain cases, while other matters would await a Cabinet decision.