Kevitho Kera
Article 16 of the Indian Constitution states: (1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
Supreme Court judgment, as passed in Umadevi Case (2006) states that backdoor door appointment is illegal.
It is clear that backdoor appointments go against the spirit of the Indian Constitution. In our state, all laws are flouted and in matters of public employment people without facing any required procedures for employment are made to hold govt job. People without sitting for exams or facing interviews gets govt jobs.
For a good reason, the Constitution stated that in matters of public employment there should be equality of opportunity. Implicitly it means all intending candidates must sit for examinations and face interviews to be able to hold govt job. In the end it means merit is stressed for holding govt jobs. What is going on in our State regarding backdoor appointments and its consequences?
*Low quality workforce: Since govt jobs are manned by people who are not qualified, in other words who did not sit for examinations or faced interviews, our workforce quality is low. Sitting for exams and facing interviews means a person have been selected based on merit. It means quality.
* Efficiency in running the state affected: with such low quality workforce, the overall efficiency in running our State gets affected badly. In other words, low output. Our State can be run better if people of merit are behind the desk.
Nagaland will continue to regress unless this chronic illness of "Backdoor appointment" is addressed. If Meritocracy is introduced and sustained, there will be tangible changes. The onus is on the Government to see to it that Meritocracy is put into force.
This write-up addresses purely on “Backdoor appointments” so I will address Nepotism on a separate write -up.
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