Regularization Row | NSF, CTAN, NNQF stage parallel protests

‘Fighting for the integrity of public institutions in Nagaland’

Three organizations—the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN), and the Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF)—staged separate but parallel agitations on Tuesday, united in their opposition to the Nagaland government’s regularization of 147 contractual Assistant Professors and Librarians without open recruitment.

For CTAN and NNQF, Tuesday marked the fifth consecutive day of protest. NSF, on the other hand, began its protest action on the same day, following the expiry of a seven-day ultimatum it had issued to the state government.

All three groups are demanding that the government revoke Order No. HTE/HE/13-3/2020 (Pt-1) 104, issued on 17 December 2024, which they argue undermines fair recruitment practices and violates UGC norms.

As the agitation began, a brief misunderstanding occurred between NSF and CTAN at the protest site regarding their modes of protest. NSF members were seen asking CTAN and NNQF protestors to take down their protest banner to avoid certain “misunderstandings.” According to some sources, the NSF was only suggesting to hold the protest under one umbrella.

Reacting to the episode, CTAN convenor Meshenlo Kath said, “See, this is a mass movement. Such kind of misunderstanding happens, and it is not a big issue.”

It may be added that Kath had earlier thanked the NSF for putting pressure on the government.

Outside the Directorate of Higher Education in Kohima, NSF members—joined by college students and other student leaders—attempted to enter the Directorate of Higher Education in the hope to lock the office down. A brief scuffle with the police occurred before the situation was brought under control.

The NSF also burned an effigy symbolizing “corruption” and said that Tuesday’s agitation is just the beginning.

CTAN and NNQF, meanwhile, continued their sit-in protest at the same location. In a joint public appeal, the groups stated: “What is at stake is not just a government order, but the soul of meritocracy, the dreams of our qualified youth, and the integrity of public institutions.”

“Despite our peaceful five-day protest and verbal assurance from the concerned minister, the government has failed to act,” the statement added. “We ask: What is the value of our qualifications if rules can be bent? What is the worth of justice if silence is the government’s only answer? We cannot allow this to be the new normal.”

Calling for wider public participation, the statement urged:
“We therefore appeal to every right-thinking citizen, every teacher who believes in the power of knowledge, every student who dreams of earning their place, and every parent who wants a better future for their child to stand with us once again on 30th April 2025 at 9:00 AM, outside the Directorate of Higher Education, Kohima.”

“We must not be silent. We must not be indifferent. Because tomorrow, it could be your dream or your child’s dream that is denied. It is now or never. Join us. Raise your voice. Let truth be louder than silence.”

Although not coordinated, the CTAN-NNQF and NSF protests reflect a shared cause: defending meritocracy and demanding accountability in recruitment practices. Both groups view the state’s absorption of contractual faculty members as arbitrary, unjust, and detrimental to the integrity of higher education in Nagaland.

So far, the state government has neither issued a written response nor revoked the contested order.

The government had earlier set up a High-Powered Committee (HPC) to probe the absorption of 147 Assistant Professors and Librarians. However, the HPC was rejected by CTAN and NNQF. The Cabinet, however, is said to be awaiting the committee’s findings. On Monday, the State Cabinet announced that it had decided to reduce the timeline for the HPC to submit its report from eight weeks to four weeks.

MT