KOHIMA — In a remarkable stride towards promoting meritocracy and transparency, Nagaland has witnessed a groundbreaking development in state government's recruitment system, said Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio during the felicitation programme of candidates who passed the first recruitment exam conducted by the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB).
The CM gave away appointment letters to 587 successful candidates at the event held in Capital Cultural Hall, Kohima, on Wednesday, August 30.
Addressing the gathering, Rio said the aspiration for a merit-based and transparent recruitment process for Group-C posts in the state government has long been a priority.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]The Group C posts constitute about 70% of all the posts under the state government, and hence ensuring meritocracy holds great significance for our educated youth aspiring for a government job, he added.
Terming the occasion historic, Rio said: “With the young and talented youth, we are going to say bye-bye to backdoor appointments, the so called political appointments.”
Recalling how the student bodies and various stakeholders were demanding the establishment of a centralised system that could provide the educated youth across the state a affair opportunity to apply, compete, and let their merit alone be the factor for their entry into the government service, he said the state government took a crucial step in October 2019, acknowledging the urgency for such a system.
The NSSB was deemed to have become functional after its chairman was appointment on February 14, 2022, following the approval of the report submitted by the drafting committee, and the board office was formally inaugurated on August 25, 2022, Rio recalled.
Despite resource constraints, the NSSB embarked on its mission with utmost urgency and conducted the largest-ever written examination in the state's history, with over 50,000 candidates across taking it from 111 examination centres in 13 district headquarters, followed by Computer Proficiency Tests and Skill Tests, before announcing the list of 587 selected candidates for Group-C positions across 45 state departments, last month, he updated.
“The successful and flawless conduct of the entire cycle of the recently concluded examination by the NSSB deserves appreciation. Its glorious achievement has further strengthened the faith of everyone, especially our youth in the transparent system and their belief in meritocracy,” he said.
He said the NSSB had announced Clerical and Allied Services Exams (CASE) 2023 for 188 posts and would notify Combined Technical Services Exams and Combined Education Services Exams in due course of time.
The government is also mooting recruitment to fill thousands of vacancies in the “uniform services”, he said while assuring to provide necessary support to the NSSB, including construction of a proper permanent building for it.
Congratulating the successful candidates, Rio said the young pool of talent will be an asset for the Government, which will help bring about vital changes in terms of digitalisation of office management and also harness the benefits of e-governance down to the grassroots level. He told them to serve the people with dedication, devotion, and fairness.
He also encouraged the NSSB to continue working with dedication and commitment to ensure a fair and level-playing field for all educated and eligible youth of the state.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism and Higher Education, Temjen Imna Along, lauded the Chief Minister for the wise step though ‘it has not been easy for the government with pressures from the people who vote for jobs’.
Asserting that meritocracy will help build a strong and resilient Nagaland, he asked the successful candidates to diligently serve the people.
He said educated young people should be willing to work hard and appear for the exams conducted by the NSSB and NPSC.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary J Alam informed that out of 587 successful candidates for Group-C positions in 45 state departments conducted by the NSSB, the success rate of male against female is 70:30 ratio, while 49% belongs to the age group of 21-25 years.
He expressed confidence that the qualified and technology-savvy new recruits will infuse fresh energy to accelerate the process of transformation in government functioning.
Alam said the felicitation programme is a testament to the state government's commitment to its vision of an empowered and inclusive society, the commitment to provide equitable opportunity and a level-playing field for its citizens, and the commitment to give a strong impetus to growth and job creation.
He added that recruitment based on merit will give enormous confidence and motivation to the candidates to serve the people with the highest standards of integrity, honesty, and dedication.
Sedevikho Khro, Chairperson of NSSB, also spoke on behalf of the board, while Asenla Jamir, LDA, Nagaland Information (NIC), spoke on behalf of the successful candidates.
CMHIS and CMMFI
Neiphiu Rio also urged the people of the state to avail the benefits of the Chief Minister's Health Insurance Schemes (CMHIS) and the Chief Minister Micro-Finance Initiatives (CMMFI).
Sharing that banks were found to be not cooperative in many cases, he said they would be dealt with to ensure that the youth get financial support from the microfinance scheme.