Kohima: The Nagaland government on Thursday decided to recall the panel of names submitted for the IAS select list 2024 after the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) intensified its agitation with a full-scale “tools down strike” across departments.
The JCC comprises several major service bodies — the Confederation of All Nagaland State Services Employees Association (CANSSEA), Nagaland In-Service Doctors Association (NIDA), Nagaland Secretariat Service Association (NSSA), Nagaland Finance and Accounts Service Association (NF&ASA), and the Federation of Nagaland State Engineering Service Association (FONSESA).
After over 40 days of peaceful protests, the JCC launched the fourth phase of its agitation on Thursday by enforcing the strike, which also saw participation from the government drivers’ unions and the Nagaland Civil Secretariat Grade-IV Staff Employees Association.
The JCC said it was compelled to escalate the protest due to the state government’s inaction on its demands for restoring the March 10 vacancy circular and removing a non-NPSC/backdoor candidate from the IAS consideration list.
The agitation initially began on September 24 with members wearing black badges, followed by a poster campaign and a pen-down strike. The JCC has maintained that the protest will continue until its core demands are met, while exempting essential services such as public transport, ambulances, school buses, sanitation, power, and PHE services.
With the strike affecting government functioning, the state cabinet convened an emergency meeting on Thursday evening.
Chief Secretary Sentiyanger Imchen said in a statement that the cabinet observed the 2020 vacancy circular for the induction of non-SCS officers into the IAS was approved by the competent authority but not followed up with a Cabinet Memo, and no policy decision was subsequently taken.
He added that the vacancy circular issued on March 10 this year was issued without the approval of the Competent Authority.
The Cabinet deliberated on the representations submitted by CANSSEA and other service associations to the DoPT and UPSC, as well as the October 10 UPSC letter requesting the state government to furnish deficient information/documents regarding the panel of eligible officers for the Select List 2024, he said.
“Taking into account the factual background and new developments, the Cabinet decided to recall the panel of names for the IAS Select List 2024 submitted to the UPSC on September 26,” the chief secretary said.
The cabinet also resolved to revisit all previous decisions to arrive at an informed position on the eligibility criteria for induction of non-SCS officers into the IAS, in consultation with all stakeholders, and to seek advice from the DoPT and UPSC.
The government has appealed to all employees and associations to cooperate and call off the ongoing agitation.
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Meanwhile, a JCC spokesperson said that the committee had taken note of the cabinet’s decision, which meets its primary demand, but said a final stance would be announced after a joint meeting with all participating associations and unions.
