The recent amendment of the rules of Nagaland Public Service Commission(NPSC) is a fulfilment of a long awaited reform as demanded by all the right thinking citizens of the state. It has made right those loopholes in the rules that were causes of injustice for many aspirants through the years. The credit goes to all those organisations who had tirelessly demanded in the form of agitations through rain and shine. It is indeed a big win for the Naga progeny in the days to come.
On many instances this same column had also denounced the alleged malpractices by the staff and members of the commission and also tried to analyse what would be the probable reason for such practices. The working system was as if the commission was acting like God. With the changed rules it is expected that many of those loopholes will be plugged and the aspirants will be given equal opportunity. It is noteworthy that the government had to concede to the demands else it surely would have attracted a suit against the commission. Some of the earlier rules had variable ratios based on the number of vacant posts for determining the number of short -listed candidates for the next level of test. The system of marking in the interview for civil servants was also quite preposterous where candidates even scored 74.12 out of 75. These were clearly against Article 16 of the constitution that guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. Changes have also been made in the composition of the interview board so that existing serving senior civil servants and police officers will be part of it to ensure equitable personality test of the aspirants.
With all these sweeping changes the mighty NPSC that acted almost like God with lot of mysteries and uncertainties for the aspirants has been finally mortalised. Nevertheless the fact also remains that in spite of the many rules that are set in place it is useless unless the rule of law is understood by those being governed. The mortals with many frailties will continue to try and act like God again and again. The usual politicking that takes place during the selection of the commission members will never bring in the intended reforms. Although the rules are changed the new members will step in with specific agendas as long as tribal politics takes the upper hand during selection process. They just might find some more loopholes to exploit. The next big challenge in front of the government is to select only those individuals who have impeccable track record for integrity and accountability. Later, the commission has to be keep the NPSC as an autonomous body in letter and in spirit, free from interferences from the legislators.
