Regularisation of contractual appointments without due process is not a new phenomenon in Nagaland. It is a rampant decades-old practice elevated to the level of culture in almost every Government Department and agency.
Mistakes, that remain unrepaired,
never disappear. They repeatedly return to haunt sometime or the other, one way
or the other. At the moment, Nagaland appears to be haunted by one of these
mistakes. A few years back, Nagaland’s Department of Higher and Technical
Education hired 147 Assistant Professors and Librarians on contract, the terms
of which are not fully known. All these years, there were no advertisements for
these posts and no formal/official recruitment was conducted through the NPSC
or as mandated by the UGC. A few months back, the State Government regularised
these contractual appointees, thereby opening a whole can of worms and more
such cans of other Departments’ will possibly be opened in a matter of time.
Student organisations, research scholars and youth bodies have been peacefully
protesting against said regularisation for over a week and their very determined
stand is that they would not rest till said regularisation order is revoked.
What they want is fresh advertisements and legally mandated recruitment process
paving the way for an acceptable degree of level playing field.
As usual, the State Government
mumbled and fumbled its way till it had to blink first. Last week, all
Government Colleges were directed to assemble in support of the regularisation
order on April 21 last. Student bodies, including tribal student and youth
bodies, were not having any of it. They directed members ~ basically students ~
not to participate in said ‘show of support and solidarity’. This order is
reported to have been issued by the Department of Higher and Technical
Education, which it later denied and then rescinded, which in turn was reported
to have been directed by the Minister of said Department, prompting the
protesters to demand his resignation. On April 21 last, students, research
scholars, youths and even members of the public gathered at the State
Secretariat complex in greater strength and submitted a memorandum to the Chief
Minister through the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima.
Meanwhile, the Government did what
it knows best ~ resort to gerrymandering ~ which worked on so many protested
issues all these decades. The State Cabinet met on the same day and decided to
keep the regularisation order in abeyance and of course set up a committee. The
protesters were not having any of it and soundly rejected the Cabinet’s
decisions, which was clearly stated in their memorandum to the Chief Minister.
Their unequivocal stand remains the revocation of said regularisation order.
The NSF had earlier given a timeframe to the Government to revoke the same
order which ends on April 28. Now we wait for the next level as the game of the
Government versus youth power unfolds.
Regularisation of contractual
appointments without due process is not a new phenomenon in Nagaland. It is a
rampant decades-old practice elevated to the level of culture in almost every
Government Department and agency. It is very likely that there are very few
tribes, clans and families that have not been the beneficiaries of this culture.
Appointments and regularisations are generally called ‘backdoor appointments’
here and are also rampant in the School Education Departments rendering
children and youngsters and their future victims of corruption and nepotism.
Last year, the High Court revoked such ‘backdoor appointments’ of over a
thousand in the Police Department and ordered advertisements of the posts and
recruitment through the NPSC.
‘Backdoor appointments’ have an
interesting background. In the early years of statehood, there was a dire need
for human resource in Government Departments and agencies. People with minimum
qualifications were appointed and minimum in-house training was imparted to
them. People already in administrative and other services, not least sundry
politicians, were sort of sanctioned to make such appointments ~ desperate
times demanded desperate measures, after all. It wasn’t seen as corruption or
nepotism at that time ~ what needed to be done was done. And in all fairness,
such appointees worked with commitment and dedication and are still deemed the
real pioneers of the State of Nagaland. However, the bad apples considered
their Departments as their personal fiefdoms, arbitrarily laid down their writs
and wrote the resonating human resource history of a number of Departments. In
the initial chaotic process of state-building, they passed through the cracks
unnoticed and were never called out.
Times brings about positive and
negative changes. Things improved in many sectors and population also increased
creating a whole new set of dynamics. Looking back in hindsight, Nagaland was
then unprepared to deal with these dynamics. With more time passing by, these
dynamics spawned increased newer dynamics overwhelming our newer political and
bureaucratic leadership. In the early years of statehood, our political
leaderships were committed and our bureaucracy was indeed a steel frame and
catalyst of change, warts and all. Time changed all that, exposing how
unwilling, unable therefore unprepared our newer political and bureaucratic
leadership are to find a way out from underneath the avalanche of the past and
change course, much less understand the constant churning of dynamics.
Therefore, ‘backdoor appointments’ continue in various forms, often stylised
nowadays.
Impervious to societal climate
change, the river of deep seated tribalism and clannism of the past continues
to thunderously roll down to the present and pave the way for ‘backdoor
appointments’. Newer political and bureaucratic leaderships developed a thick
shell of impunity emboldened by political majority resulting in a fear that
spawns surrender and sycophancy. Meanwhile, education, exposure and technology
emboldened younger generations that do not buy the run-of-the-mill political
and bureaucratic narratives hence demand their rights, transparency and
accountability ~ constitutional basics ~ apparently alien concepts to those in
power, especially in today’s political climate.
Then there is the issue of
leadership deficit resulting in policy paralyses. This leadership deficit is
not confined only to the political and bureaucratic but also to the societal such
as the Church, tribal organisations and generally what are known as the
‘Elders’ ~ the leadership of which have also been increasingly afflicted with
the disease of ‘backdoor appointments’. The tragic impact of ‘backdoor
appointments’ are clearly stamped on all aspects of present day State of
Nagaland, which all the promised 4-lane national highways cannot conceal and
all the proposed shinning infrastructure development cannot compensate for
abandoned and lost integrity. Never has a societal leadership of a State let
down young generations so badly as in Nagaland. Never has a societal leadership
of a State destroy its own future as thoroughly as in Nagaland. Never has a
societal leadership of a State walk away from the purpose and promise of a
State as determinedly as in Nagaland. Unsurprisingly, the inherent malaise of
unrepaired mistakes now haunts the same but also a different Nagaland.
(The Columnist
is a journalist and poet. Published in the Assam Tribune issue of April 14,
2025)
