DIMAPUR, JULY 21 (MExN): The Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Nagaland has issued a clarification addressing allegations and misgivings circulating on various media platforms regarding the Forest Guard recruitment process.
In a detailed press statement, the Department stated that the recruitment to the post of Forest Guard is “exempted from the purview of the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB)” as per Schedule-A of the Nagaland Staff Selection Board Regulations 2020.
It further clarified that the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) had issued a circular (No.AR/ESTT-10/4/2024 dated 19th September 2024) outlining the procedure for recruitment in uniformed services exempted from NSSB’s jurisdiction. “Each Department shall set up a Departmental Recruitment Board (DRB) with representatives from Administrative Departments, P&AR, Finance and Law & Justice Departments,” the Department said, adding that the DRB constituted for the Forest Guard recruitment was in conformity with this decision. “The modalities for conducting the recruitment have been decided by the DRB,” it stated.
Addressing concerns raised on social media regarding alleged irregularities in both the walking test and written exam, the Department urged candidates with grievances to submit written complaints for verification and possible remedial measures. “Applications may also be submitted by email to pccf.hoff-ngl@gov.in and all such applications are to be submitted to the Department latest by 28th July 2025,” it said.
On the issue of negative marking, the Department clarified: “The same would have been mentioned in the Instructions in the Question Booklet given to candidates, had there been a provision for the same. If any further clarification was required, the same could have been done with the Invigilators and Supervisors, present at the Examination venue.”
Regarding identity verification, it stated that all admit cards were checked alongside Aadhar cards.
Responding to allegations that overage candidates were allowed to appear, the Department said, “Age relaxation of three years with the upper age limit as 38 (Thirty-eight) years has been approved by the Hon’ble Cabinet for recruitment to the uniformed services.” It added, “A one-time exemption was given by the Government vide letter NoFOR/ESTT-14/11/2018/967 dated 10th June 2025 to applicants who were within the age limit (i.e. 37 years) during the submission of applications in 2023 but became overage subsequently in 2025.”
On the purported leak of a question booklet that appeared on social media, the Department said it took immediate cognizance of the matter. “It is clarified that upon receiving the report of the paper leak, the Department immediately identified the booklet through the printed code that it belonged to Mon centre. The Divisional Forest Officer, Mon carried out an investigation through which the perpetrator was identified and apprehended on the same night i.e.12th July 2025.”
The perpetrator, it said, confessed to the act and admitted to sharing an unused question booklet, which was also retrieved. “The matter was referred to Police Department for investigating the time of upload of the question booklet on social media. The report of the Police Department has been received wherein it is stated that the time when the question booklet was shared by the perpetrator on social media is 4:59 PM, which establishes that the leak occurred after the conduct of the written examination,” the Department said, adding that appropriate disciplinary action is being initiated against the concerned staff.
For candidates wishing to evaluate their performance, the Department informed that the question booklets along with answer keys have been made available on the Department’s official website: forest.nagaland@gov.in.
“The Department would like to take this opportunity to inform all concerned citizens that information regarding the Forest Guard recruitment examination will be provided as per the extant norms followed by recruiting agencies such as NPSC and NSSB etc.,” it added.
