DIMAPUR — The Nagaland Transparency Public Rights Advocacy and Direct Action Organisation (People’s Justice) [NTPRADAO (PJ)] has expressed its full support for the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) in continuing their pen-down strike following the cabinet sub-committee’s failure to reach a logical conclusion.

The JCC comprises the Confederation of All Nagaland State Services Employees’ Association (CANSSEA), Federation of Nagaland State Engineers Service Association (FONSESA), Nagaland In-Service Doctors’ Association (NIDA), Nagaland Secretariat Service Association (NSSA), and Nagaland Finance and Accounts Service Association (NF&ASA).

According to a statement issued on Wednesday, the NTPRADAO (PJ) stated that the demands of the JCC concerning the selection of non-State Civil Service (SCS) officers into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) are “absolutely and logically very genuine”.

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The organisation observed that in a time when the global community is advancing towards competitiveness and technological adaptation through Artificial Intelligence (AI) across various fields, it found it incomprehensible that the state government would “stoop so dastardly low and cheap” by considering the inclusion of “a below-standard and below-bar back-door appointee (service thief)” into what it described as “India’s toughest examination-orientated service and arguably the most premier and prestigious service of all.”

It added that such an act would make a big laughing stock and mockery of the high post of IAS in front of the general public in Nagaland as well as in the larger context of Indian society.

The NTPRADAO (PJ) also criticised its own former signatories—Vice President Zuchamo Patton, Secretary General Ikato Zhimomi, and General Secretary Tumbeni Kithan—for “not doing enough towards the cause of the JCC demand”. It stated that since NTPRADAO had been involved with the JCC issue from the beginning, it expected active and continuous engagement in supporting the cause. It asserted that the People’s Justice wing was “willing to burn its finger for a just cause no matter what the consequences”.

The organisation assured the JCC team of logistical support of one hundred volunteers for any kind of strike, agitation and protest till the JCC mission is totally accomplished. It added that it could not contribute more at the moment, as the JCC’s demand strategy is more or less confined to the four walls of government offices.

The statement further expressed disappointment over what it termed the “nonchalant attitude” of Naga civil society organisations, intellectuals, and community leaders in not fully and openly supporting the JCC’s cause.

It cautioned that “if the system is not rectified today, tomorrow some third-class and third-rated backdoor appointees will overtake your sons and daughters, who are highly qualified,” adding that “the fight is about future Naga generations and their forever justice system and long-term welfare”.