“We want Justice”, “Whose Job? Our Job”: CTAN, NNQF reject government’s clarification on faculty regularization, threaten indefinite office lockdown

The Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) and the Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) have rejected the state government’s clarification on the controversial regularisation of 147 Assistant Professors and Librarians, calling it a betrayal of meritocracy and due process.

In a formal letter submitted to the Directorate of Higher Education on Wednesday, the groups demanded that the government revoke the notification issued on December 17, 2024. They warned of an indefinite office lockdown beginning April 17 if their demands are not met.

The protest, which began on April 16 outside the Directorate in Kohima, marks a growing youth-led mobilisation against what many are calling “systemic injustice” in the state’s public recruitment process. CTAN and NNQF have questioned how individuals appointed on fixed pay against non-sanctioned posts after June 6, 2016, could be regularised without open competition through the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC).

“Whose job? Our job!” protesters chanted, reflecting widespread frustration among NET-qualified aspirants who feel they have been sidelined in favour of politically facilitated appointments.

The issue strikes at the heart of public sector employment in Nagaland, where competitive exams are among the few available avenues of upward mobility for educated youth. The regularisation order under scrutiny was based on a Cabinet decision taken on September 11, 2024, and later formalised through the December 17 notification. It granted one-time absorption to a batch of Assistant Professors and Librarians, bypassing NPSC requisition — a move condemned by CTAN, NNQF, various students’ bodies, research scholars’ forums, and the Naga Students’ Federation.

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In its response to the controversy, the Directorate of Higher Education, under Ex-Officio Director V. Lovitoly Sema, maintained that the appointments were made on fixed pay “due to exigency” and that all sanctioned vacancies have already been forwarded to the NPSC.

But CTAN and NNQF countered the clarification, stating in their letter:
“If Assistant Professors and Librarians appointed after 06/06/2016 were engaged on exigency fixed pay against non-sanctioned posts, how are they being regularized?”

In a state long plagued by allegations of corruption in public appointments, the standoff has reignited public debate over transparency, meritocracy, fairness, and the future of the NPSC. Protesters have announced plans to reconvene on Thursday morning for a second day of demonstrations.

MT