Kohima, Sep 22 (PTI) The Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) on Tuesday urged the state government to withdraw a provision in its September 15 Office Memorandum (OM) requiring departmental vacancies to obtain clearance from the Manpower Rationalisation Committee (MRC) and Cabinet before being sent for recruitment.
“We are not against the whole OM. Maybe the government has some purpose. We are against some of the content,” CTAN convener Mesheno Kath and co-convener Kaqheto said at a press conference at the Kohima Press Club, demanding deletion of Point 2 relating to prior approval for filling vacancies.
CTAN said departments should be allowed to send vacancies directly to the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) and Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB), as was done earlier, and questioned the need for additional MRC and Cabinet clearance.
Regarding the ongoing Combined Staff Recruitment Examination (CSRE), CTAN said more than 30,000 aspirants were competing for only 11 advertised posts, while 43 additional requisitioned posts were awaiting MRC clearance. It urged the NSSB to defer the examination until the additional vacancies are cleared and included.
The group has submitted representations to the Chief Secretary, NSSB and Chief Conservator of Forests, raising several recruitment-related demands.
The group also reiterated its demand to bring eligible Group C posts in departments currently outside the NSSB’s purview, including police, prisons, Nagaland Lokayukta, police telecommunications, Home Guards and Civil Defence, Fire and Emergency Services, Excise and Forest, under the NSSB.
CTAN said the recruitment system should have a neutral mechanism to ensure transparency and uniformity in filling eligible posts.
It also expressed concern over provisions under which departments requiring manpower could approach the MRC and Cabinet and subsequently make contractual, fixed-pay or co-terminus appointments. The group questioned whether this could lead to contractual appointments being made instead of regular recruitment through the NPSC and NSSB.
On Forest Department recruitment, CTAN said it had submitted a reminder to the Chief Conservator of Forests seeking early advertisement of 83 Forest Guard posts, which it said had earlier been assured to be advertised within six months, by October 2026.
It also sought an update on the Forester-I recruitment, including the status of recruitment rules and the expected timeline for advertisement.
CTAN said it was not opposed to the government’s manpower rationalisation exercise but objected to provisions that, in its view, could affect the recruitment process.
Kath said they could return to the streets if their concerns were not addressed and urged unemployed youth not to depend solely on government employment, calling for greater opportunities in entrepreneurship and the private sector. PTI NBS NBS RG
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