Kohima, Oct 12 Nagaland’s Cabinet Sub-Committee on Temporary Personnel Information Management System (PIMS) has identified 22 appointments made in violation of a government ban on fresh recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommended their termination, Advisor for School Education Kekhrielhoulie Yhome said on Monday.
The 22 appointments are part of 786 cases identified by the government as having been made despite the April 21, 2020 order imposing a complete ban on fresh appointments as part of COVID-19 austerity measures, Yhome told reporters after a meeting of the sub-committee with the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) here.
The meeting, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton, was held in the Secretariat to discuss 109 alleged irregular appointments across 16 departments flagged by the NSF, which said the government had assured it that termination orders for eight employees appointed against Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) posts without following the prescribed recruitment process would be issued this week.
Yhome said 69 of the 109 cases required further consideration after the committee segregated them into different categories. Nineteen cases involved regularisation of services under existing government policy, while 12 appointments were made against NPSC posts without open advertisement. Three others involved non-sanctioned posts, and four cases had already been terminated.
The remaining cases included 22 appointments made despite the 2020 recruitment ban. Yhome said the sub-committee would submit its recommendations to the state cabinet for a decision.
“For my part, I recommend that since they were appointed totally in disregard of the government standing order, they should be terminated,” he said, clarifying that the recommendation reflected his personal position and not a final government decision.
The NSF, meanwhile, said the government had assured it that eight employees still occupying NPSC posts despite being appointed outside the commission’s recruitment process would be terminated.
The posts include two in the Environment, Forest and Climate Change department, two in Home Guards and Civil Defence, two in Nagaland State Transport, one in Information and Public Relations and one in Works and Housing.
The NSF also demanded the termination of 22 employees appointed against Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) posts after the board was constituted. It said another 47 appointments made after it sought a ban on recruitment in August 2019, but before the NSSB was established, would be examined separately.
NSF president Mteisuding, addressing media persons this evening, said the federation would scrutinise the government’s explanations for appointments regularised under existing policies or made on compassionate grounds, while maintaining that all illegal and irregular recruitments must be terminated.
The federation had submitted a representation to the chief minister in August 2019 seeking a blanket ban on appointments until the NSSB was established. It issued an ultimatum on March 20, 2026, demanding the termination of all alleged backdoor appointees.
MLA Yhome cautioned that taking action against employees already in government service could lead to legal challenges. He said the cases had been divided into different categories because the circumstances surrounding the appointments varied, and the cabinet would take the final decision on the committee’s recommendations.
The NSF said it would decide its next course of action after reviewing whether the promised termination orders were issued this week. It also demanded that vacancies arising from termination or resignation be referred to the NPSC or NSSB for open recruitment and that all appointments against non-sanctioned posts be terminated.
Yhome said the NSSB had conducted eight examination cycles since becoming operational in February 2022, resulting in 1,511 Group C appointments through competitive examinations.
The NSF said it would submit a second list of alleged irregular appointments in departments beyond the 16 already under scrutiny and appealed to the public to report suspected recruitment irregularities, assuring that the identities of informants would be kept confidential.
(PTI News)
