Kohima, December 13 (MExN): The Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF) and the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN) have raised concerns over the continued delay in advertising the 129 newly created Assistant Professor posts under the Higher Education Department, while also flagging issues arising from a recent court order and administrative discrepancies.
Even the annual Common Educational Services Examination (CESE) notification has also not been issued, the two organisations pointed out in a joint statement.
Accordingly, the duo urged the concerned authorities to issue the advertisement for the 129 posts and the CESE at the earliest, in the interest of fairness, transparency and the future of aspiring candidates in the State
The organisations also pointed to a discrepancy involving the 129 newly created Assistant Professor posts and the earlier attempt to regularise 147 contractual Assistant Professors, which was subsequently revoked.
According to NNQF and CTAN, both the orders pertaining to the 129 posts and the 147 contractual posts carried the same Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) and financial clearance numbers, leading to confusion and concern among aspirants.
An RTI query was filed to seek clarification, to which the response stated that the 129 posts were not created to accommodate the 147 contractual appointees, despite sharing the same P&AR and financial clearance numbers.
The organisations noted that the P&AR clearance was issued in 2022 (UO No. 1025 dated December 12, 2022) and the financial clearance in 2023 (RFC/ESTT No. 32/25 dated May 18, 2023), whereas the attempted regularisation of the 147 contractual posts took place in 2024 and was revoked in 2025, followed by the creation of the 129 posts.
Such inconsistencies, they cautioned, risk eroding public trust and therefore demand transparency and accountability from the authorities concerned.
Meanwhile, the NNQF and CTAN referred to a recent single bench order of the Gauhati High Court in cases concerning alleged backdoor or contractual appointments in the Higher Education Department (WPC(C)/340/2022 and WPC(C)/189–198/2023), wherein the court observed that the petitioners lacked locus standi to challenge the appointments as they were not NET-qualified at the time the appointments were made without advertisement.
The organisations stated that the observation has generated public discussion and concern, and expressed apprehension that its interpretation could have wider implications for educated unemployed youth seeking legal remedy in similar matters.
Accordingly, the NNQF made an appeal before a division bench against the single-bench judgement.
It must be noted here that the appeal was heard December 5 as well as on December 10.
The Court listed the matter for further hearing January 21, 2026.
