Dimapur, September 28 (MExN): ACAUT Nagaland on Wednesday extended support to the Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) and the All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers Group (ANATG)-2015 Batch both of which are at loggerheads with the State Government.
Stating that appointment to public posts under the Government of Nagaland must be based on public advertisement, so that equal opportunities are open to all qualified aspirants, the ACAUT recounted the various PILs and Writ Petitions and subsequent Court orders that banned appointment on contract basis and prevented regularisation of contract or ad-hoc after 3 years of service.
It also said that the NNQF had two WPs but “without taking into cognizance the merit of the case, the Court dismissed the writ petition on the grounds of maintainability and locus standi, while giving liberty to the petitioners at para 42, ‘...to make challenge the illegal or irregular action/actions by filing appropriate petition, as would be required under law.’”
In this connection, ACAUT stated when the matter was brought up during the recent concluded Nagaland Legislative Assembly session, “knowing full well that more than 200 hundred assistant professors who were made respondents in the writ petitions were appointed through backdoor, where more than 100 were without qualifications,” MLA Azo questioning Minister of Higher Education Imna Along “as to why those assistant professors have not been regularised is totally uncalled for.”
“ACAUT also questions the Minister and the respondent assistant professors dubious claim that they have won the case by misinterpreting the Order from the temple of justice is inviting contempt of Court. This staged gimmick is obvious since election is knocking at the door and appeasement for electoral gains cannot be ruled out,” it said.
According to the ACAUT, the NNQF aspirants are taking appropriate steps to challenge the illegal/irregular appointments by filing appropriate petition.
Any action on the part of the Department of Higher Education to regularise the services of those who were initially appointed without advertisement through NPSC will amount to defiance of SC landmark judgement in Umadevi's case and ACAUT writ petition, it further cautioned.
Meanwhile, it also took cognisance of what it termed as a “double standard stand taken by the Department of School Education (DoSE) on ANATG-2015 issue.”
“On one hand the DoSE quote ACAUT's writ petition and its inability to regularise the adhoc teachers but on the other hand, rampant backdoor appointments still continue,” it said.
It demanded that the DoSE make public “as to how many appointments has been made without advertisement till date after passing the order dated July 28, 2017. ACAUT would also like to state whether the Department of Higher Education is applying the same yardstick as the DoSE without fear or favour.”
“ACAUT would like to clear the air that the ANATG-15 case has not been impleaded in the Court case. It is a known fact about the politicians and bureaucrats’ nexus of making backdoor appointments in most of all the departments even after the landmark judgements of the Supreme Court and High Court,” the release stated, while adding that as per the High Court Judgement and Order dated August 3, 2018 “any qualified aspirant is the aggrieved petitioner having the locus standi to take any State Department to Court for redressal of backdoor appointment grievances.”
“The Department of Higher Education is looked upon by citizens as an intellectual institution and for being a benchmark for quality and excellence with impartiality for selecting the most competent and qualified assistant professors through open competitions. ACAUT stands for appointments through due process of law based on fair competition and meritocracy for the interest of the future generation,” it added.
