Ban ‘the ban on backdoor appointments’

Moa Jamir  

“It has come to the notice of the Governor that some cases of direct recruitment has (sic) been made without publicly inviting the application for the posts… The undersigned is, therefore, directed to request all concerned that no Direct Recruitment should be made without publically inviting applications…” goes a Government of Nagaland “Office Memorandum” (OM) dated as early as July 7, 1976.  

Since then, the government has unfailingly issued circulars and OMs to that effect at regular intervals. By all account, the government always has had the ‘honest’ intention to curb the malaise of irregular appointments, commonly referred to as backdoor appointment in Nagaland, but suffers from serious  implementation problem.  

In the latest OM issued on June 6, 2016, the government ‘once again’ banned all ad-hoc/casual/temporary/work-charged appointments. “Over the years, the pre-conditions for making appointments on contract basis were not adhered to in most cases, resulting in irregularities in such appointments and their extensions,” it noted.  

Thus, an acute sense of déjà vu prevails when the 15th Session of 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly detouring from the usual nonchalance, decided to discuss the issue on March 23.  The Home Minister revealed that out of 2360 appointments made under his department from 2013-17, only 382 were made through open recruitment, while 2037 were made directly without following any laid down procedures.  

However, like an ostentatious lawyer arguing an indefensible case, he atrociously justified the same to previous compelling precedents, adding that “there was excess appointment of 1600 posts in the department when he took over” and gloated over the reduction of “excess posts” to 850 during his tenure. He also cited a 2010 OM which exempted the department from the ban on “random appointments.”  

On further queries regarding corrective measures, he said, “We will look into it and if they have done through backdoor, we will try to find out the reason why they have done then.”  

The replies of the Roads & Bridges and Health & Family Welfare Ministers regarding appointments in their respective departments from 2014-17 also highlighted many cases of “adhoc” recruitments. Such discrepancies frequently hit the limelight yet seldom generate corrective action.  

Self-evidently, lip-servicing become convenient modus operandi for the government to quell any iota of public indignation over the issue. One is lost at ascertaining whether those at the helms of affairs suffer from selective amnesia or an aura of infallible impunity as repetitive declaration do not elicit any positive and tangible outcome.  

However, a deeper analysis of the issue would reveal that, for aspiring as well as active politicians, such actions are gainful electoral gambits, which serve them in the long process. Besides the alleged fincancial incentives, such actions also help to, among others, maintain their influences and prestige in the society.  

Therefore, time is ripe to drop any false pretense and completely ban ‘the ban on backdoor appointments’ for good. It will shatter many false halos.

For any comment, drop a line to moajamir@live.com