Kohima: Following the recent advertisement posted by the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB), the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) on Tuesday objected to the 12.5% viva-voce component of the total marks in all advertised categories.
Addressing a press conference at its office in Kohima, NSF President Kegwayhun Tep said that although it appreciates chief minister Neiphiu Rio led all-party government for making the NSSB become a reality, there should not be any room for any loophole in the process of examinations.
“The reason why Naga Students’ Federation, along with the rest of the student community, fought for NSSB to be constituted and made operational in the state of Nagaland was to ensure that meritocracy, fairness and transparency in the process of examination,” Tep said.
The NSF, he said, was apprehensive of the recent advertisement issued by the board, where 12.5% of the marks in any category were allotted for viva-voce or interview which will create room for manipulation.
Objecting to this move by the board, Tep said NSF had also written a letter to the chief secretary of the state. “Giving such high importance to viva-voce only opens up avenues for authorities concerned to indulge in malpractices during the recruitment process thereby defeating the very purpose for which NSSB has been set up, that is, to promote meritocracy and ensure that deserving candidates are recruited through open and fair competition,” the students’ federation said in the letter dated September 10.
In this regard, Tep said that it demands that the state government either scrap the interview system or minimise the marks allotted for viva-voce.
While the state government has an excess of employees, he said that there is no work efficiency in the sector. “The younger generation demands that there should be the right person for the right job. We feel that NSSB is the right board to bring transparency in the system of governance,” Tep said.
“There has to be work efficiency in any system of governance and at any level for which it anticipates the board to recruit the right person for the right job,” Tep said.
As per Central Staff Selection Commission (SSC), he said that interviews or viva-voce should not be conducted at the level of grade III. Likewise, the modalities of the NSSB, he said have been framed as per SSC for which it does not require an interview to qualify a candidate.
But as per the practicality of the state, he said that many departments were of the view that physical tests will be required to recruit an efficient person.
However, the 12.5% differs for different categories, for some, it is 31.2 marks while it is 50 marks for others and some even up to 75 marks. “If the interview marks exceed 25 marks, it creates a room for any board to manipulate the examination,” he said.
Tep added that despite its demands for structural changes, there should be no delay to conduct the examination. While ensuring that the examinations are conducted, Tep said that it will not allow viva-voce to be conducted till its demands are met.
“As we all know, this is a newly formed board which will recruit over 500 posts in the state and if there is any manipulation in the first cycle, it will create misunderstanding where it may compel the board to collapse. So we demand that the board conduct examinations in a free and fair means,” Tep added.
Recruitment for all available vacancies
NSF President Kegwayhun Tep also said that it demands all available vacancies which come under the purview of the NSSB to be recruited through the Board.
He informed that Right to Information (RTI) has been filed in 64 departments to check the availability of the available vacancies and received responses from about 40 departments so far.
“The tally of the vacancies available which was reported through RTI and vacancies sent to the board by the departments does not tally. We have seen disparities in almost all departments,” he said.
While Tep made no mention of any government department, he urged all departments to cooperate and send all vacancies which come under the purview of the NSSB to the Board for the conduct of the examinations.
Despite repeated calls and notifications served by the government, he said that some major government departments are yet to send the number of available vacancies to the Board.
The NSF, therefore, urged the departments to cooperate with the board and the student community and ensure that all available vacancies are filled in through examinations.
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