Counter-Statement to “DoSE Appeals RMSA 2016 Teachers to Resume Duties’ (Published September 18, 2025, in ‘Nagaland Post’)
The Department of School Education has listed a number of points regarding the service conditions of RMSA 2016 teachers:
- Teachers signed affidavits accepting contractual terms.
- The posts were declared “scheme-based.”
- Salaries were reduced after the merger into Samagra Shiksha.
- A Review Petition has been filed.
- Meetings and appeals have been held.
All of this may be true, but truth alone does not make an action just. If a child steals and confesses, the theft does not suddenly become acceptable. Likewise, the State’s actions—though admitted openly and truthfully—remain unjust and unlawful. Admission of guilt cannot transform wrongdoing into righteousness.
What the Department conveniently ignores is that the Government of India itself directed that RMSA teachers must be appointed on a regular basis, at par with State cadre teachers, with proper scale pay. In 2013, the Project Approval Board (PAB) specifically instructed Nagaland to amend its misleading advertisement, clarifying that teachers’ salaries were the State Government’s responsibility—irrespective of central funding.
• Yes, teachers were made to sign affidavits in 2016, but under the threat of unemployment. Such duress cannot be held against us today. In 2018, the Kohima Bench of the High Court nullified this bond. We are no longer bound by terms we were coerced into signing.
• Teachers recruited under RMSA were appointed through open advertisement, competitive written exam and viva voce, following post creation under the Department of School Education vide No. DSF/RMSA-UPGRADATION/2011 dated Kohima, 28th October 2015. This was issued with the approval of the Cabinet vide Corrigendum No. CAB-2/2013, dated 05.10.2015 with the ex-post facto concurrence of the Finance Department vide RFC/ESTT. No. 32/28, dt.09.06.2015 and ex-post facto clearance of the P& AR Department (O.M Cell) vide U.O No. 273, dt. 24.07.2015. This process was no different from any other government recruitment. To now claim that these were “not substantive posts” is a contradiction of the State’s own recruitment procedure.
• The Cabinet Memorandum of 21 June 2018 clearly acknowledged that the State must absorb SSA/RMSA teachers even after central funding ceases. The RMSA 2016 batch was arbitrarily excluded, creating artificial discrimination.
• Yes, the Department has the constitutional right to approach a higher court. But teachers too have constitutional rights—to livelihood, to equality before the law, and to dignity of labour. These rights are being violated every single day that the Review Petition remains pending. This case has stretched for nearly 8 years. “Wait” is not a solution—it is merely an excuse. Each delay prolongs our financial, social, and professional suffering, while also stripping us of our dignity.
The department says we should “resume duties” while the matter is sub judice. Yet, the court has already ruled that our working conditions were unjust. Asking us to return under the same exploitative conditions is contradictory to the court’s ruling and undermines the principle of justice.
Thus, every “truth” admitted by the Department is in fact an admission of violating the directives of the Government of India, discriminating against one batch of teachers, and defying judicial verdicts.
The Artificial Division Within the Same Recruitment:
The 2016 recruitment under RMSA (Advertisement No. RMSA/EXAM/2013-14, dated Kohima, 14th December 2013) even included vacancies from 35 schools sanctioned as early as 2009–10 (19 posts). Yet, the Government created two categories of teachers from this single advertisement: - 111 teachers appointed through the Directorate of School Education (DoSE) with appointment orders issued in the name of the Government of Nagaland, now enjoying PIMS registration and employee codes.
- Remaining RMSA 2016 teachers were appointed through the Nagaland Education Mission Society (NEMS), left without PIMS registration or employee codes, despite being recruited against the same sanctioned posts.
This artificial division—based only on who issued the appointment order, not on merit or qualification—is arbitrary, discriminatory, and unconstitutional.
The Government’s Own Precedent:
The Department also ignores its own record in handling teacher recruitment under centrally sponsored schemes: - SSA 2010 and 2013 batches, and RMSA 2013 teachers were appointed on regular scale pay with allowances and NPS deductions.
- In 2015, 115 posts of Graduate Teachers (Maths & Science) were advertised under SSA, vide Advertisement No. ED-SSA-GT(MS)/ADVT/2015 dated Kohima, 7th March 2015, which clearly specified ‘contract’ appointments with a ‘fixed pay’ of Rs. 27,400/. For this batch of teachers, no written examination was conducted; only viva voce was held. Yet, upon appointment in October 2015, these teachers were granted full scale pay (Rs. 9,300–34,800 + GP Rs. 4,200) with Cabinet approval.
- The RMSA 2016 recruitment process strictly followed due procedure, yet were placed on fixed-pay contracts through NEMS — in clear violation of both precedent and the Government of India’s directive.
RC/ES
It is important to highlight that appointments under the centrally sponsored schemes in 2010, 2013, and 2015 were all made through the Directorate of School Education (DoSE). Consequently, those teachers received: - PIMS registration, and
- Employee codes from the appointing authority.
This discriminatory bifurcation has no legal or moral justification and is the root cause of the present crisis.
This glaring double standard exposes the State’s discrimination. If teachers recruited under centrally sponsored schemes in 2010, 2013, and 2015 were granted scale pay—even when the 2015 advertisement clearly mentioned “contract” and “fixed pay”—then the RMSA 2016 batch deserves nothing less than equal dignity and justice.
By denying this, the Government is not only contradicting its own past actions but also gaslighting the RMSA 2016 teachers—pretending that fixed pay was always the norm when, in fact, it had already broken that precedent in favour of earlier batches.
Justice cannot be selective. Equality before law demands that the RMSA 2016 teachers be placed in scale pay at par with their counterparts. Anything less amounts to discrimination and wilful violation of both national directives and judicial verdicts.
We wish to remind the Government:
• Justice delayed is justice denied. Teachers cannot be made to wait indefinitely while the State prolongs litigation.
• The Hon’ble Supreme Court has already spoken. A Review Petition is not an excuse to suspend compliance but should be treated as an exceptional legal remedy.
• Our struggle is not for privilege but for constitutional equality.
We, therefore, earnestly appeal to the State Government to: - Honour the Supreme Court’s May 20 verdict without further delay.
- Withdraw the Review Petition, which serves no purpose except prolonging injustice.
- Engage in good-faith dialogue to restore teachers’ dignity and strengthen the education system of Nagaland. We reiterate that teachers are not scheme workers but the backbone of education. By denying us justice, the State weakens not only teachers but also the future of its children.
Issued by:
Media cell
NRMSATA-2016