The Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) is now under the scanner of a social activist after alleged discrepancies in the issuance of posting orders for successful candidates of the Combined Staff Recruitment 2022 came to light.
Despite initial promises of prompt appointments, significant delays in certain departments have led to questions about transparency and fairness in the recruitment process. Social activist Bendang Imsong, who had earlier filed an RTI seeking answers from the government, highlighting concerns over the handling of the recruitment and the resulting impact on the candidates.
Imsong, while raising a series of questions, said in a press release that, if a justifiable reply is not provided and the injustice caused is not rectified, recourse shall be made before the appropriate court of law or appropriate Public Interest Litigation court of law.
Imsong said that, on 9 September 2022, the NSSB advertised for Combined Staff Recruitment 2022 to fill up 630 posts lying vacant in various departments. Written exams were conducted on the 11 and 12 November 2022 and followed by oral exams from April 24 to July 5, 2023, he said.
The exam results were declared on July 9, 2023. On August 28, 2023, appointment orders were handed over to all successful candidates by the Chief Minister of Nagaland. However, the social activist raised concerns on discrepancies in the issuance of posting orders.
The social activist claimed that, while departments such as the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR) issued posting orders on the same day (August 28, 2023), enabling candidates to submit their joining reports by August 29, 2023, and start receiving salaries and seniority benefits almost immediately, other departments experienced delays. Notably, the Department of School Education did not issue posting orders until November 22, 2023, causing significant delays for successful candidates.
In response, social activist Bendang Imsong stated that he had filed a Right to Information (RTI) inquiry with the Department of School Education on May 24, 2024, seeking an explanation for the delay. According to Imsong, the department’s reply, issued on July 17, 2024, indicated that the entry into service for teachers recruited in the NSSB 2022 batch would be counted from the date of joining the service.
In this respect, Imsong raised several questions to the Government of Nagaland (See inset below). Further, Imsong cautioned that if satisfactory answers are not provided and the issue is not rectified, he would seek recourse in the court of law or file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
1. What is the stipulated time period required for a candidate to submit the joining report after being declared successful in an interview, considering that the post has been advertised due to vacancies?
2. As per the Nagaland government service rules, what is the stipulated time frame within which a candidate, after passing the interview, should submit their joining report, and to whom should it be submitted?
3. Why was there a delay of several months in the case of the NSSB 2022 batch candidates under the department of School Education, given that all the posts advertised were already lying vacant and advertised on the same date and under the same order?
4. Specifically, the candidates from the Administrative Training Institute under P&AR Department were given their posting orders along with their appointment order and submitted their joining report on 29th August 2023. They started receiving service benefits and salary from 29th August 2023. However, the Department of School Education delayed the process by nearly 3 months. Please provide detailed reasons for this delay.
5. What is going to happen regarding the benefits pertaining to the 3 months seniority list and financial losses to those successful candidates?