Says recruitment process under existing NSSB regulations ‘inevitable’
Dimapur, April 15 (EMN): The Personnel and Administrative Reforms department on Saturday asserted that the state government set up the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) with due consultation with various stakeholders, including the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), and notified the NSSB regulations on July 20, 2020.
It said the regulations have been in the public domain ever since.
Issuing a clarification to the representation of the NSF submitted to the chief secretary on April 13, 2023 regarding objection to the viva-voce component in the ensuing Combined Staff Recruitment Examination (CSRE) 2022, it said the government had framed the regulations taking into account the practices of other recruitment boards and agencies where many states in India have retained viva-voce and interviews as an integral requirement of the recruitment process.
“The Hon’ble Supreme Court in its recent Order in Case No. Civil Appeal No. 2103 of 2020 has directed for 12.5% of the total marks for the viva voce for the recruitment process under Haryana Staff Selection Commission.
“Section 45 (10) of the NSSB Regulations 2020 reads ‘The Marks allotted for Personal Interview shall be fixed at not more than 12.5% of the total marks of the examination process’.
“Further Section 45 (12) reads ‘Marks awarded to a candidate appearing in the Personal Interview shall not be less than 40% of the total marks allotted for Interview and generally not more than 80% of the total marks allotted for Interview’.
“Therefore, as a corollary to the provisions under Section 45 (12); only 5% out of 12.5% is left for the Board in order to assess and award the marks for the personal interview,” read the statement.
Moreover, in the discussions with NSF, it was made clear that the government is open to the idea of reviewing the NSSB regulations concerning the proportion of total marks to be allotted for written and interview exams, among others, before advertising the next cycle of recruitment, it said.
“However, since the current recruitment process was started with existing regulations, it should be allowed to go on without any change.
“The NSSB being a new organisation is putting in place strong systems to ensure a robust, transparent and IT enabled recruitment process. The NSSB is confident that the interview process will also be completed smoothly and transparently as per the regulations,” read the statement.
It went on to state that the NSSB had advertised its first CSRE on September 9, 2022 for 630 posts.
“Accordingly, written exams were conducted in 111 exam centres under 13 district HQ for around 50,000 candidates. 1866 candidates were shortlisted requiring Computer proficiency test and other skill test. Currently, 1368 candidates are called for viva voce which shall be commencing wef, April 18 up to June 28, 2023,” it informed.
It therefore appealed to the NSF, other student bodies, candidates, parents, guardians, and the citizens at large, “to appreciate the inevitable need to continue the current recruitment process with the existing NSSB regulations”, and let the upcoming interview process be conducted without any hindrance.
