Bitter pill: Covid hires spark job row in Nagaland

DIMAPUR — Nagaland government’s decision to regularise 280 posts created during the Covid-19 pandemic has come under scrutiny, with 129 healthcare workers filing a petition before the Kohima Bench of Gauhati High Court, and the Nagaland Medical Students’ Association (NMSA) terming the state’s move as “unfair and unconstitutional.”

The matter pertains to a notification issued on August 18, 2025, by the department of Health and Family Welfare seeking to regularise 280 posts, including 98 contractual medical officers/junior specialists, along with other contractual posts appointed during the Covid-19 period.

The notification was issued with reference to the Cabinet memorandum of May 13, 2022, which proposed the creation of 390 posts for doctors, nurses and paramedical staff and stated that “those healthcare workers who had worked in Covid-19 duties in government or private Covid-19 facilities at least for 100 days would be granted certain preference.”

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While some of these posts were subsequently filled on a contractual basis for a year, the state government in August last year decided to regularise 280 of them.

Court case

In the petition before the High Court, 129 healthcare workers argued that they had served in government and private hospitals under the National Health Mission and the Naga Hospital Authority, Kohima, during the height of the pandemic but were being excluded from the regularisation process.

Citing the 2022 Cabinet memorandum, the petitioners contended that the government’s current move to regularise those contractual employees, without even considering other frontline workers who served during the pandemic, violates their right to equal opportunity in public employment.

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They maintained that although they had applied, they were neither shortlisted nor appointed when the temporary appointments were made.

The petitioners stressed that they are not challenging the appointments already made on contract or the call letters issued to some candidates. “The only grievance of the petitioners is that the respondent authorities are taking steps to regularly fill up the 280 posts without permitting the petitioners to apply,” the petitioners’ counsel told the court during a hearing on August 26.

This present regularisation exercise, they claimed, effectively denies them their constitutional right to be considered for public service.

In response, the state government informed the court that interview dates for the regularisation process have not yet been notified and assured that instructions would be taken on whether the petitioners could also be considered, “and if not, the reasons thereof.”

Observing the urgency of the matter, the court noted that if the posts are filled without addressing the petitioners’ claims, their rights could be irreparably affected.

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Accordingly, it directed the state to respond by the next hearing date (September 2), stating that it would “duly consider as to whether any interim directions are required to be passed.”

‘Unfair and unconstitutional’

Meanwhile, the Nagaland Medical Students’ Association (NMSA) issued a statement on Wednesday, describing the notification as “arbitrary, unjust, and in gross violation” of the Nagaland Health Service Rules, 2006, which clearly mandate that Class-I gazetted officers are to be recruited only through the Nagaland Public Service Commission by way of a duly advertised written examination and viva voce.

“Regularising contractual appointees through departmental screening without NPSC process is a clear bypass of established norms and recruitment procedures,” the association stated.

The NMSA stated that regularisation would compromise the quality of healthcare, asserting that more than 40% of the state’s medical officer workforce would consist of now and previously regularised contractual appointees if the recruitment drive materialises.

It recalled that the last similar exercise was carried out on March 10, 2017, and asked whether the public was willing to accept a dilution of healthcare standards by endorsing such appointments.

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The association also highlighted what it called an “alarming contradiction in numbers.” Between 2015 and 2024, only 61 medical officers were recruited through the NPSC process. Yet, in a single notification, 98 contractual officers are now being considered for regularisation outside of that system.

This, the NMSA stated, represents a complete deviation from fairness, particularly at a time when Nagaland produces over 152 MBBS graduates and 12 dental graduates annually.

The association warned that such regularisations would set a dangerous precedent that could permanently harm the integrity of the state’s public health service. Once established, the practice of regularising contractual employees through departmental screening would create stagnancy in future recruitments, locking out deserving and meritorious candidates for years to come.

In this context, the NMSA demanded the immediate revocation of the August 18 notification and called for all 280 posts, including those created during the pandemic, to be requisitioned to the NPSC and the Nagaland Staff Selection Board for fresh recruitment through open, competitive examinations.

It also urged citizens, student bodies, NGOs and aspirants to oppose what it described as a “regressive and discriminatory policy.” Stating that it “cannot and will not remain a silent spectator,” the association warned that if the government proceeds with the order, it would exercise its democratic rights, including resorting to agitation, to safeguard the future of medical aspirants and uphold meritocracy.