The last minute decision of the State government to immediately appoint a High Power Committee (HPC) to study the entire gamut of the functioning of the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) has no doubt averted a major collision between the students’ community and the State government. The decision of students led by the Naga Students Federation (NSF) and Eastern Naga Students Federation (ENSF) to impose a 24 hour blockade in Kohima and Dimapur would have certainly led to major inconveniences for the general public at a time when festivals, marriages, public functions etc are taking place. A major law and order situation could have also arisen if both the parties had stuck to their stated positions.
At the end therefore, the foresight shown by the government to come half way to meet some of the demands put forth by the NSF should be welcomed at this juncture. This however does not in any way absolve the state government of its failure to take a firm stand on the bribery case involving the NPSC. The restructuring process of the NPSC is an altogether separate matter and it should not be clubbed together with the corruption case presently under investigation. The NSF should make this clear to the government that the appointment of the HPC should in no way cover up the investigation process and the two issues should be kept apart for all intent and purpose. As far as the NPSC bribery case goes, the trail of the 8 (eight) accused in the court of the Special Judge, Dimapur should not be allowed to drag on and the assurance given in writing by the Chief Secretary that the examination of the accused persons will commence very shortly, should not merely remain on paper.
While setting up of the aforementioned HPC is a step in the right direction, it is highly questionable as to why the government has taken such a long time to go for a revamp of the NPSC while all the time knowing that the running of the premier recruiting agency in the State was far from satisfactory. It must be mentioned that following a series of slip-ups by the NPSC, which had come to public knowledge earlier in the year, an editorial in The Morung Express (February 2006) had suggested to the Government to consider an Expert Committee to undertake a fundamental review of the functioning of the recruiting agency. That it has finally acted after immense public pressure only questions the sincerity of the government to cleanse the recruiting system.
Now that it has finally decided to go for a fundamental review of the functioning of the NPSC, every effort must be taken to make the process meaningful and result oriented. In essence, the NPSC should be made to go through a rigorous health check up and to diagnose the ills that plague the system. Once this is done the required changes must be made with sincerity without leaving any room for further exploitation.
The HPC should also study the need for requisition of vacant posts in various State run departments and to make it legally binding for recruitment through the NPSC. This will cut to size the corrupt elements involved in illegal appointments to government jobs. Appointments particularly in the middle and lower rung bureaucracy have mostly been done by politicians through back door manipulations. This has resulted in unqualified personnel and subsequently poor motivation and interest resulting in the deteriorating work ethics and culture. Hopefully the HPC will also recommend measures for a more open system of recruitment process that will give an equal opportunity to the qualified and deserving youths waiting in the wings.
