Justice S Serto and Justice Nelson Sailo were satisfied with the Nagaland government undertaking and ruled that “since everything is in place the Board shall start functioning and conduct exams at the earliest as people of the state have been eagerly waiting for so long”.
By Imna Longchar, TFM Nagaland Correspondent
Based on the compliance affidavit filed by the government of Nagaland, the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, on May 9 has finally disposed off the PIL on (setting up of) Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB).
Justice S Serto and Justice Nelson Sailo were satisfied with the government undertaking and ruled that “since everything is in place the Board shall start functioning and conduct exams at the earliest as people of the state have been eagerly waiting for so long”.
As per the affidavit, the NSSB chairman took charge of the board on February 16 this year and the NSSB office in the New Directorate Building of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services is up and running since April 20.
It may be mentioned that in July 2020 the Neiphiu Rio’s government issued a notification constituting the NSSB but even after a lapse of more than a year the NSSB remained only in paper.
Instead, the state government on July 16, 2021 opted for backdoor appointment of more than 1400 posts which needless to say horrified every right thinking citizens.
In order to salvage the future of the student community, a PIL was filed on August 31, 2021, by the Rising People’s Party (RPP) through advocate and counsellor for the petitioners Neiteo Koza.
According to a press statement issued by RPP, after numerous hearings and delay tactics of the state government, the Judges had finally saved the day for the student’s community for which “this victory is a victory for the student community” and credit for it goes to the NSF, PSAN, ENSF and others such as ACAUT in the initial years.
The RPP has requested the NSSB to start the recruitment process at the earliest.
Adding that though the case could have been disposed off as early as November 2021, the delay tactics of the government advocates ensured otherwise, and many students crossed the age limit, unfortunately for which it was shared that age relaxation should be considered since it was the UDA coalition which created the problem in the first place, including creating delay tactics during the hearing period.
“If the RPP comes to power it will ensure that interview in NSSB exams is done away with in order to curb nepotism and favouritism. Only the written marks will be considered for the final merit list,” statd the statement.