Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, JUNE 24
After rejecting the High Power Committee (HPC) set up by the State government and submission of an ultimatum to the Chief Minister in connection with the ‘colossal corruption and deprivation of justice’ allegedly by the Department of Technical Education (DTE), representatives from the All Nagaland College Students Union (ANCSU) accompanied by officials from the Naga Students Federation (NSF) and Eastern Naga Students Federation (ENSF) today had a meeting with Parliamentary Secretary for Higher & Technical Education, Deo Nukhu at his office chamber, Kohima.
The meeting, which discussed at length on the selection process and criteria of the Nagaland State Entrance Exam (NSEE), was also attended by the Commissioner & Secretary Higher & Technical Education, Additional Director Technical Education and OSD Technical Education. This was informed during a press conference held this evening at ANCSU office chamber, Kohima.
It may be recalled that ANCSU had submitted an ultimatum to the Chief Minister on May 29, 2015, asking him to implement its demand within 30 days with effect from the day of submission. The demands are as follows – That, it had rejected the report of the High Power Committee, Feb 2015; secondly, the immediate recall of students who have been illegally selected for MBBS/BDS; thirdly, immediate constitution of enquiry through CBI to investigate the conduct and selection of students in various courses during the last 10 years; fourthly, to remove the concerned officials from their responsibilities when the process of enquiry is being conducted; and lastly to take drastic punitive actions against the erring officials.
At the press conference, ANCSU officials reiterated that it will strictly stick to its demands. The deadline set by the ANCSU will lapse on June 29.
Talking to media persons about the outcome of today’s meeting, the ANCSU officials however informed that the concerned Parliamentary Secretary had given verbal assurance to forward the matter for discussion at the Cabinet level. He gave the assurance in the presence of all the concerned department officials who were present for the meeting.
At the meeting, it was informed that the ANCSU officials pressed for setting up of an investigation team at the earliest. It was learnt that ANCSU has been pressing on this issue for six to seven months now, but the sorry figure is that the Parliamentary Secretary and the concerned department is still unable to come up with any decision.
Questioning about the ‘unfairness’ in the NSEE, ANCSU officials pointed out that there is no systematic way of conducting the exams.
As per 2015 NSEE seat allotment, 45 seats were allotted for Nagaland in MBBS and 10 seats in BDS. However, only 20 seats for MBBS have been filled up and the rest are still lying vacant. It was informed that 22 candidates were selected in MBBS, but the admission of two candidates was cancelled as they were found out to be from non-indigenous group.
While proposing for one-time exam, ANCSU officials have also questioned the concerned department about the system of allotting seats by conducting two exam patterns. While many students who failed short of the first class category were made to opt for agri & allied courses, ANCSU officials maintained that these students should have been given the quotas for the remaining seats in MBBS (25) and BDS (10).
“And now when the second selection exam will be conducted to fill up the vacancies in MBBS and BDS, it’s unfair for those students who would be going for agri & allied courses,” said Vilhousielie Kenguruse, member, ANCSU Fact Finding Committee. He reasoned out why the DTE has to conduct two-time selection exam. “There could be every possibility that the candidates selected for agri & allied courses could be better than the students who will be selected for the second batch of MBBS and BDS,” he maintained.
As per the ANCSU’s ultimatum in regard to the selection/nominations for various technical courses in 2014, four students whose names were not indicated in the declaration of AIPMT results were later offered seats in MBBS & BDS through NSPMT exam. “This is manipulation of highest order by the DTE,” the ultimatum read.
“The Department of Technical Education should be aware that we will be minutely watching how the selection exams are carried out,” said ANCSU Fact Finding Committee chairman O Wati Jamir. “There will be microscopic scrutiny of the examination,” he added.
Mention be made that the second selection exam would be held on July 4, for the second batch.
