Regularisation of asst profs: Nagaland govt assures action, pressure groups to resume agitation

Kohima, Even as the Nagaland government on Monday decided to half the time given to a panel to submit its recommendation on the regularisation of 147 assistant professors in higher education department, pressure groups decided to resort to agitation from April 29.

The state government held three meetings during the day - the Cabinet meet, with the Naga Students’ Federation and the Combined Technical Aspirants Nagaland and Nagaland NET Qualified Forum .

Addressing a press conference after the meetings, Deputy Chief Minister T R Zeliang said that the state cabinet deliberated on the demands for revocation of the April 21 regularisation order and also the suspension of the High Power Committee constituted to look into the matter and submit its report within eight weeks.

He said that the meeting decided to cut down the duration of the HPC to submit the report to four weeks from eight weeks.

Zeliang said that following the Cabinet decision, he along with Minister K G Kenye and Chief Secretary J Alam held back-to-back meetings with NSF and CTAN & NNQF leaders asserting that the government is serious to resolve the matter and would initiate measures at the end of the scheduled deadline for HPC.

In this, the government appealed to the agitating students’ body and the pressure groups to call off their agitation.

The Cabinet decision had superseded its decision of June 2016 not to make any contractual appointment or regularise those appointed after that decision.

Asked why the government had approved the proposal of the department to regularise the appointment of 147 ad-hoc assistant professors, Zeliang said the department had committed an error.

Therefore, he said the HPC has been constituted to go into the depth of under whose order the error was committed.

“We are all out to find the details and initiate action against those found guilty,” the deputy CM said.

However, CTAN and NNQF leaders told reporters late tonight that they have decided not to accept the government’s proposal and would go ahead with more severe agitation outside the Directorate of Higher Education from 9 am on Tuesday.

The NSF, which is separately taking up the matter, also issued a statement saying that consequent upon the expiry of the seven-day ultimatum served to the state government on Monday, it would proceed with the proposed democratic agitation from April 29 morning.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.