Dimapur, July 17 (MExN): The Public Service Aspirants of Nagaland (PSAN) has once again appealed to the state government to set up a Staff Selection Board (SSB) so as to conduct a common yearly examination for recruitment to all the posts that do not come under the purview of NPSC.
Media Cell, PSAN in a press release said that it had been pursuing the matter with the Government for the last three years, but “has not found any takers till date.”
Numerous representations had been submitted to the successive governments to set up SSB for free, fair and open recruitment and to encourage meritocracy so as to instill a sense of competition among the educated youth of Nagaland, it mainatined.
While PSAN appreciated the departments for conducting the examinations to recruit new staff, it pointed out that departmental exams were “usually marred by allegations of unfair practices and do not have the trust of the aspiring candidates.”
PSAN, thus reiterated its appeal to the PDA government under the leadership of Neiphiu Rio to pay heed to the hardships faced by thousands of educated youth of Nagaland and set up SSB at the earliest.
Meanwhile, it stated that the aspirants had filed RTI queries in nine departments that conducted examinations in 2018.
As per the RTI replies, a total of 25131 applications were received out of which 14847 candidates appeared in the examinations for 183 vacancies.
It also revealed that nine departments had spent Rs 36, 46, 320 in the process of conducting the departmental examinations. Examination fees of Rs 200 on an average were paid by the candidates in each department.
PSAN mentioned that it could not file RTI queries in some departments due to non-availability of concerned officers and various technical issues.
“The RTI replies reveal just the tip of the iceberg viz. unemployment problems in Nagaland,” it said.
A bigger problem with numerous departmental exams, PSAN pointed out was that the aspiring candidates and their families have to bear huge burdens.
It said that a candidate coming from a far-flung district will spend a minimum of Rs 5000 per exam, in order to apply for and write the examinations which usually took place in Kohima. This added “more physical, mental and financial burden on the already-beleaguered aspirants and their parents,” it added.
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