Ensure open competition through NPSC exams: NVCO urges state govt

Dimapur, June 2 (MExN): The Nagaland state government has been urged to take steps to ensure that equal opportunity is given to all the eligible candidates in Nagaland for employment through conduct of open competition examinations.

Stating this in a press release on Wednesday, the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) urged the state government to direct its departments to requisition vacant posts and the posts occupied through backdoor appointment, contract, casual, ad hoc, deputation, irregular, erroneous, etc., to the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC).

The NVCO also raised two pertinent questions, firstly as to whether the state government adhered to Article 14 & 16 of the Constitution of India in the process of public employment by way of issuing advertisement inviting applications from all eligible candidates and holds a proper selection where all eligible candidates get a fair chance to compete? Secondly, whether has NPSC constituted by a body of sufficient experts and its members are fair and impartial while holding the selection process through written examination and interview maintaining proportionate/reasonable ratio of total markings of written and interview?

“Any appointment made without advertisement and without inviting applications from open market is backdoor appointment/irregular and amounts to infringement of Article 14 & 16 of Indian Constitution,” stated the Press & Media Cell of NVCO.

During the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) 1st general conference held in Kohima on May 28, NVCO, President, Advocate Kezhokhoto Savi spoke on the ‘equal opportunity in public employment.’

CTAN is a combination of ten technical associations of Nagaland formed in 2016 ‘to fight for equal opportunity as they were mostly deprived of their rights to sit for open competition as advertisement were rarely seen and already more than 2500 members are registered with association and another more than 2500 are yet to register.’

‘It is very disheartening to learn from them that many of them did not get a chance to participate in open competition, just for the fact that the technical departments do not requisite the vacant post to NPSC and so many posts especially Grade-II and below were occupied through backdoor appointment,’ the NVCO alleged.

‘Public employment in Nagaland involves huge corruption’
It also stated that ‘public employment in Nagaland involves huge corruption such abuse of power- using position or status to discriminate somebody or gain something from that person; Nepotism- giving jobs to relatives and family members; Favouritism-giving unfair opportunity to friends, awarded contract works or supplies in table tender to own choice of people; Extortion-obtained by force, threats or unfair means; Bribery-taking money to give people’s job, profession, treatment or dishonestly persuade someone for help through cash, selling government jobs, etc; embezzlement- stealing money or resources that are under one’s control; Fraud-making false claims for benefits, etc. False medical re-imbursement or including expensive medicines, cheatingly drawing travelling allowances, leave travel concession (TA/LTC), General Provident Fund (GPF), leave encashment, pension, etc.’

CTAN has been fighting against backdoor appointment since 2016 by collecting detailed information through RTI and submitting several representations and ultimatum. In this respect, NVCO, President stated that the fight against backdoor appointment is to mete out justice by ensuring ‘equality of appointment in matters of public employment’ enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 16 of Indian Constitution.

“It is also the fight against all those employed who have been appointed/recruited in various departments of the Government of Nagaland by passing the Constitutional schemes of public employment through the modus operandi of illegal, backdoor, contractual, ad hoc, casual, temporary, deputation, irregular, etc, modes of appointment in collusion between the bureaucrats and the politicians,” it added.

The Government of Nagaland OM on ‘irregular appointment of Government servants by some appointing authorities’ reveals the naked truth about the most unethical ‘department ethics’ that has taken a stranglehold on governance in the State, NVCO stated.

‘Backdoor appointment takes away shares of reservation’
While sharing its concern about equality in the society, NVCO stated that Article 16 of Indian Constitution provides a provision for reservation and “in this regard, we have reservation for backward tribes in Nagaland. The practice of ‘backdoor appointment’ takes away the shares of reservation,” it stated.

“Justice VR Krishna Iyer correctly observed that the benefit of reservation were, by and large, snatched up by the top creamy layer of the backward class or classes, thus, keeping the weakest among the weak always weak and leaving the fortunate layers to consume the entire cake,” NVCO added.

“In a landmark judgement of the Apex Court,” NVCO said, “it states that the backward classes must not include the creamy layer. ‘Creamy layer as a class of society that are relatively forward and educated than the other members of the other Backward classes’.”

Source: https://morungexpress.com/ensure-open-competition-through-npsc-exams-nvco-urges-state-govt