Shocking but no surprises

Once again and perhaps one that is still going on, backdoor appointments has again been raised against the state government and in this case, the Technical Education Department by the Rising People’s Party(RPP) a nascent political party that has been throwing the gauntlet at the incumbent government. The RPP has recently come out with an explosive revelation about backdoor appointments in the TED and also how an adviser had appointed a nominee of another adviser to a post despite being the waiting list. As per the RPP the TED had advertised 16 vacancies for post of lecturers but appointed 21 candidates while keeping another 13 under waiting list. Again, while the department advertised eight vacancies for post of demonstrators, 12 were appointed while seven were placed under waiting list. In all out of 24 vacancies advertised, 33 were appointed and 20 placed under waiting list. Backdoor appointment has become a well established racket in the state since 2003 and not even the state’s own Special Investigation Team(SIT) could do anything more than churn out figures and filed charges. In the end nothing has changed since the system has not been over hauled and no strong deterrent action put in place. In Nagaland suspension from service does not affect the prospects of anyone but rather it is like an achievement. Government cannot create jobs on demand but somehow posts are created but appointments are not done on the basis merit. As the RPP had alleged, VIPs managed to have their favourites or nominees appointed. It is a circle of vested interest among the senior bureaucrats and politicians. While employment in the government has already reached beyond the point of serious concern; in sharp contrast, the figure of unemployment in the government has crossed the point of no return. The trajectories themselves tell a story of how jobs in Nagaland are going to become a negative factor against progress. As per estimates, the number of employees under government services was recorded at 1,10,000 in 2008-10. The figure then rose to 1,25,000 by 2010-11 and by 2012-13, it reached 1,30,000. According to the latest figure, there are unofficially around 1,40,000 government employees which is a little over 7.1 % of the state’s 19,80,602 population. On the other hand the number of educated unemployed youths in Nagaland today could well touch the one lakh mark. The fact is that Nagaland has the highest unemployment rate in the north east. Not only being the state with the highest unemployment rate in the region, Nagaland also has the highest ratio of people employed in the government service among all other states. In other states, when backdoor appointment takes place, it would have spiralled into agitations and government forced to take action. Huge funds for projects meant for developments have been spend during the past decades but only benefitted a handful. More jobs can come if private enterprises are thriving but instead corruption and extortions are thriving. These have not only dampened the entrepreneurial spirit but discouraged investors from outside to do business in the state. People get the khushi-khushi government they deserve and so that is where the entire problem lies.