Angami Students’ Union urges Nagaland government to honour indigenous employment rights

KOHIMA — The Angami Students’ Union (ASU) is standing firm in its fight to secure the rights of indigenous inhabitants in Nagaland, particularly concerning Grade-IV job appointments in local district offices.

The student union expressed frustration and disappointment during a press conference at their Kohima office on Thursday, particularly over the state government’s alleged disregard for its own 2017 memorandum, which clearly states that Grade-IV positions in each district should be filled only by indigenous inhabitants of that district.

ASU president Khriesamhalie David Mere said that despite the union’s repeated pleas, the government continues to make appointments that violate this memorandum.

He recounted their struggle, highlighting a recent victory where, after much protest and picketing outside the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, an appointment made in February 2024 for a handyman at the Chief Medical Office in Kohima was finally terminated in April.

However, similar promises for action regarding appointments at the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) have gone unfulfilled, despite ASU holding back from further protests after receiving assurances from the government, he said.

While the union received a letter from the department on May 27, 2024, and the picket was kept on hold, the department has not taken any initiative. He maintained that it has not terminated the appointment of non-indigenous candidates to six posts in the NHAK.

Furthermore, he asserted that the union would leave no stone unturned until and unless the rights of the indigenous inhabitants of the people are reinstated.

Vice-president, Thejalhoukho Thomas Khawakhrie, revealed that the union has received only about 50 per cent of the information sought in their Right to Information (RTI) applications to the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR) department earlier in May.

He claimed that the union learned about illegal appointments even after the 2017 office memorandum and also alleged that some departments were not willing to furnish information.

General secretary, Vimeyiekho Vitso, stated that the union is very serious about the rights of indigenous inhabitants and said that despite the union’s efforts, including meeting with officials of the Health department and submitting representations, the department had failed to uphold its assurances.

He said that though the department had assured to address the matter within two weeks, on April 25, after a lapse of 14 days, the department wrote to the union, saying that they would be unable to take the necessary measures as the model code of conduct for the parliamentary election was enforced.

In this scenario, he said that the union had given the department until June 7 to take action.

On the six posts in the NHAK, Vitso maintained that the state government should terminate the illegal appointees and advertise the six posts for open recruitment of indigenous inhabitants.

Referring to the Health department’s letter on May 27, which reportedly stated that the six appointees would be reallocated to their parent districts, he went on to say that such an arrangement would infringe the rights of indigenous inhabitants of the respective districts, as their appointments were not done through open recruitment.

Further, with the RTI responses revealing at least 16 questionable appointments, Vitso cautioned that the ASU will not hesitate to take further action to hold the government accountable.

For departments that are reportedly not willing to furnish information, he asserted the union’s commitment to utilising all legal means to extract the information in order to reinstate the rights of the indigenous inhabitants.

He also went on to say that the delays in furnishing information under the RTI Act would be addressed as per the provisions of the Act.