Nagaland Students Oppose Regularisation of 147 Assistant Professors, Urge Recruitment Through NPSC

On Tuesday, thousands of students and job aspirants in Nagaland launched widespread protests against the state government's decision to regularise 147 ad-hoc and contract assistant professors under the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE). The decision, formalized in an order issued on April 21, has ignited significant opposition, primarily led by the Naga Students' Federation (NSF), which argues that the posts should be filled through open competition by the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) to ensure fairness and merit-based recruitment.

The NSF initiated its first phase of protests after the expiration of a seven-day deadline they had set for the government to address their concerns. On the protest day, a large number of student volunteers marched from Naga Solidarity Park to the DHE office, where they staged a sit-in to express their discontent with the regularisation process. Over a thousand students from various NSF units participated in the demonstration. NSF president Medovi Rhi, speaking on behalf of the protesters, condemned the decision as a betrayal of meritocracy. He argued that fairness should be non-negotiable and criticized the government for denying hardworking students and aspirants their rightful opportunities. He emphasized that the regularisation of these 147 posts without competitive exams undermines the merit system and creates a sense of injustice among the youth.

Rhi and other NSF leaders made it clear that they would not back down and would continue to fight for what they believed was rightfully theirs, emphasizing their demand for justice. Alongside NSF, two other groups—the Combined Technical Aspirants Nagaland (CTAN) and the Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF)—also joined the protests, having resumed their second phase of agitation after suspending their initial protests on April 25. The suspension had occurred following verbal assurances from the Minister for Higher Education, who promised that the regularisation order would be revoked and the high-powered committee (HPC) investigating the issue would be dissolved. However, when no formal action was taken, both CTAN and NNQF returned to the streets to continue their fight for their demands.

CTAN and NNQF have made three key demands to the state government: the immediate revocation of the April 21 order regularising the assistant professors, the dissolution of the HPC, and the requisition of the 17 posts for recruitment through competitive exams. These demands reflect their belief that open and transparent recruitment is the most equitable way to fill the positions and that the regularisation process without such exams is unfair and arbitrary.

In response to the protests, the state cabinet took some steps to address the issue. On Monday, the cabinet reduced the timeline for the HPC to submit its report from eight weeks to four weeks, signaling that the government was taking the issue seriously. Additionally, the cabinet promised to investigate the matter further and urged NSF, CTAN, and NNQF to end their protests. However, these appeals have not been successful in calming the demonstrators. The protesters remain determined to continue their agitation until their demands are met, stating that they will not stop until justice is delivered.

To maintain order at the protest sites, security forces and district officials have been deployed. Despite the government's efforts to ease the situation, the protests remain ongoing, and the various groups involved are resolute in their stance that the decision to regularise the posts without an open recruitment process is unjust and must be overturned. The protests highlight a broader issue concerning fairness and meritocracy in the recruitment process in Nagaland, with the youth expressing frustration over what they perceive as an undermining of their hard work and qualifications.