Morung Express News
Kohima | September 20
Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio has said that the government has undertaken an exercise to phase out adhoc and contingency appointments ‘who are without works and draining the state resources all these years.’
Responding to a starred question raised by MLA Yitachu to resolve the adhoc and contingency employees attaining retirement age during the 12th session of the thirteenth Nagaland Legislative Assembly Tuesday morning, Rio remarked, “The question is very critical and problematic.”
Rio attributed the ‘big problem’ to anomalies made by subsequent governments and random appointments by the departments. Although the state does not have a concrete policy, he said the government is now trying to streamline the adhoc and contingency appointments.
Rio, who is also minister in-charge of Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, replied that the question of a ‘policy’ for adhoc and contingency employees does not arise as ‘adhoc and contingency appointments are by their very nature temporary.’ No policy is therefore, required to provide on their attaining retirement age, he added.
Validating his point, he averred that any adhoc/contingency appointments made against some vacant sanctioned or without sanctioned posts for a fixed period in order to meet immediate requirement of the department should not continue beyond the short term period for which they are appointed. “Once the project is over, their services also get terminated,” stated Rio.
Conversely, he said “it is interesting to note that there have been many instances where adhoc appointments have continued for many years through political pressure.”
Mentioning the dissimilar judgements of the Court on this issue Rio commented, “The court also has different orders.
The court sometime gives order that they should not be appointed and sometimes they quash the appointment or regularisation, but in some cases, the court also orders that the person should be regularised.”
Nonetheless, the Chief Minister said, “for the benefit of the people, those who are enjoying regular pay under workcharge or adhoc, after 30 years of service, they will be given the retirement benefit.”
Subsequently, he said the sanctioned post would be abolished and no due appointment will be made against that post ‘because many adhoc and workcharge appointments are without works but being paid,’ and wasting lots of the state resources.
Towards this, Rio said the government is trying to phase out those groups of people by giving them some justice, and expressed hope that this exercise will ‘reduce and minimise’ adhoc/contingency appointments and possibly be abolished after some time.
