By arrogating the authority of the Nagaland Public Service Commission NPSC, the Nagaland Technical Education Department has deprived genuine and hardworking candidates from getting gainful employment through fair means, alleges the Rising People’s Party.
By Imna Longchar, TFM Nagaland Correspondent
Rising People’s Party (RPP) has asked Nagaland technical education department to cancel its ongoing departmental recruitment drive and to revoke the notification for the appointment of 21 posts which fall under the purview of Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) recruitment process.
According to a press statement issued by RPP, these positions included 16 posts of lecturers, 8 posts of demonstrators and three posts of Multi Taking Staff (MTS).
While, the RPP said that the department has replied stating that all the posts as advertised in the local dailies were requisitioned to the NPSC, the department also justified by adding that no action on the part of the NPSC was taken.
The RPP has further asked NPSC to clarify publicly as to why the said posts were not advertised by the Commission.
Rising People’s Party (RPP), Nagaland, on January 31 this year has written a letter to the director, Technical Education, Kohima, objecting to the ongoing departmental recruitment drive and also demanding for revoking the same within seven days.
Earlier, the department has advertised the same and in this regard notifications were also issued on November 26 and 27, last year followed by an addendum issued on November 30, 2021 and January 18, 2022, whereby 16 posts of lecturer, 8 posts of demonstrator and three posts of Multi Taking Staff (MTS) were advertised for recruitment.
It must be stated that the posts from Sl. No 1-13 as mentioned in the advertisement falls within the purview of NPSC recruitment process.
Adding that any vacancy(s) in the department should have been intimated to the NPSC following which the later would have advertised the posts for advertisement and recruitment, the RPP letter mentioned that the department was not the competent authority to conduct the exams for the said posts.
It said that by arrogating the authority of the NPSC, the RPP was of the opinion that the department has deprived genuine and hardworking candidates from getting gainful employment through fair means.
Stating that the recruitment process followed by the department in this case was known as “backdoor appointment”, RPP said that showing the façade of advertisement and conducting the “farce” called departmental written exam and departmental interview does not confer legality upon the recruitment process since the NPSC is the only competent body to conduct exams of such nature.
RPP further requested the authority concerned to revoke the said notification and nullify the recruitment process and intimate the vacant posts to the NPSC within seven days, Monday being the dateline, failing which the RPP would be compelled to take “recourse” to other means to rectify the injustice committed upon the student community.
The recruitment drive should be cancelled: RPP
Candidates appearing for the “so-called interview” on February 7, 8 and 9 for the 27 posts would be doing so at their own risk, said RPP.
Meanwhile, the RPP stated that on January 31, 2022, it wrote to the Technical Education Department, Nagaland, requesting it to cancel its ongoing departmental recruitment drive and revoke the notification for the appointment.
In its reply to the RPP on February 1, the department through its director said that initially “All the posts as advertised in the newspapers have been requisitioned to the NPSC….”
In support, the department furnished documentary evidence showing that 25 posts of Lecturers and 18 posts of Demonstrators were requisitioned to the NPSC for recruitment in the month of September and October 2021.
RPP said that the Technical Education Department’s unstated justification is that since there was no action on the part of the NPSC, the department went ahead with the ‘temporary’ recruitment process.
RPP accused the department of indulging in an action “under the garb of filling up posts, the department cannot exercise an illegality, especially as the posts of lecturers and demonstrators fall within the purview of NPSC recruitment process”.
“It’s an open knowledge that all departmental recruitment processes are farcical with the candidates already selected beforehand, and the conduct of written and interview tests are mere formalities to present the picture of ‘fair’ recruitment”, RPP added.
Mentioning that the High Court on October 5, 2021, had allowed the NPSC to conduct exams and the preliminary exams for NCS/NPS which have been conducted already, RPP said there was no justification for the Technical Education Department to conduct a parallel examination unless the whole exercise is appoint to politically connected candidates, which unfortunately is the case, at the cost of deserving students.
It also said that NPSC should also clarify publicly as to why 25 posts of lecturers and 18 posts of demonstrators were not advertised by the Commission and questioned if it cannot conduct even the simple job of issuing advertisements, then, there was no reason for the Commission to exist.
Further, RPP added that the candidates appearing for the “so-called interview” on February 7, 8 and 9 for the 27 posts would be doing so at their own risk.