DIMAPUR — The Nagaland NET Qualified Forum
(NNQF) has sought the intervention of Governor La Ganesan on the issue of
regularisation of contractual assistant professors in the Higher Education
department.
In an open letter to the governor on Saturday, the NNQF said
that the Common Educational Services Examination (CESE), held under the purview
of the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), requires candidates to have
either NET/PhD to be eligible to sit for the written exam. And after qualifying
for the written exam, the candidates have to sit for an oral interview where
they are screened by experts.
“The selection of candidates is based on their academic
marks, written exam, and the interview. Any recruitment for a regularised post
that does not go through this process violates the fundamental right to equal
opportunity.
“The NNQF had therefore questioned such recruitment in the
Higher Education Department through the court (The Nagaland NET Qualified Forum
members Vs the State of Nagaland—Case no.: WP(C) 340/2022 and WP (C) 188-198,
208 /2023),” the open letter stated.
The NNQF comprises NET/PhD-qualified individuals who are
aspirants and eligible candidates of the CESE.
The forum informed that following the statements made in the
13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, where a discussion to regularise 154
contractual assistant professor posts took place, the NNQF had submitted a
representation to the Minister of Higher Education, Temjen Imna Along, on
September 23, 2022.
According to the forum, the representation appealed to the
minister to withhold the process of regularisation of the contractual assistant
professors.
It also pointed out the court case filed by the NNQF against
the backdoor/irregular/contractual appointments in the various branches of
Higher Education department.
The representation reminded that the case is sub judice, and
if any regularisation takes place, it will be viewed as going against the
interim order of the writ petitions, amounting to contempt of court.
The forum went on to state that the same appeal was made by
the NNQF and the CTAN on October 9, 2024, and December 19, 2024, to the
authorities.
However, a recent notification dated December 18, 2024,
surfaced indicating the absorption of the contractual assistant professors in
the Higher Education department, it stated.
It informed that the contractual assistant professor posts
that have been challenged in court comprise candidates who do not have the
requisite qualification and were not recruited through the CESE, while some who
possessed the required qualification were not recruited through the CESE.
“The regularisation of these contractual posts automatically
decreases the need for recruitment through the CESE. Advertisement may take
place, but it will be only for those where vacancies have not been filled.
“This way some subjects might never see advertisement, and
the aspirants or candidates become overage. This is something that aspirants in
the past have experienced and aspirants of today are apprehensive of,” the
letter stated.
The NNQF maintained that it is unfair that some candidates
have to go through a rigorous screening based on a written exam, their academic
history, and an interview with a panel of experts, while some people get
regularised on some other basis.
“That is neither open nor fair competition. It also leaves
room for further such bending of rules in the future with the possibility of
manipulation.
“The NNQF stands for the right to equal opportunity, and
therefore, we appeal to your kind authority for a halt to this absorption
process. We support the idea of age condonation/relaxation for the contractual
employees so that they can also take part in the right to equal opportunity and
an open-fair competition through direct recruitment, NPSC, and CESE, along with
all other aspirants,” the letter added.
