Breach of trust

Nagaland today stands at a crossroads of credibility as may be understood from the series of protests by contractual employees during the recent years. The government, long accustomed to offering assurances without delivery, now finds itself cornered by a rising tide of anger from teachers, doctors, and contractual employees. What began as sectoral grievances has converged into a broader indictment of governance itself. Each delay, each “on hold” Cabinet decision, has deepened the perception of wilful neglect. The result is a crisis of trust: professionals who carried the state through its classrooms and hospitals now stand united, demanding not charity but justice. At the heart of this confrontation lies the All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers’ Group (ANATG) 2015, representing 1,166 teachers appointed between the late 1990s and 2012 on ad hoc contracts. Despite repeated assurances of regularisation, their services remain in limbo. A suitability test was conducted in 2017 after document verification, but Cabinet approval stalled, leaving the process inconclusive. Over the years, ANATG has staged multiple sit in protests in Kohima – in 2018, 2022, and again in February 2026 -demanding a definite timeline for regularisation. Their current strike underscores the frustration of professionals who have waited nearly a decade for justice. Parallel to this, the plight of COVID appointed doctors has exposed another fault line. During the pandemic, the state urgently recruited medical officers under a Special Recruitment Drive (SRD) to strengthen its fragile health system. These doctors served on the frontlines, risking their lives in extraordinary circumstances. Yet, despite the Gauhati High Court and Supreme Court upholding their appointments – with the apex court affirming the regularisation of 97 medical officers – the government has placed Cabinet decisions “on hold.” This hesitation appears not only legally weak but morally indefensible. For these doctors, the demand for regularisation is about recognition of service as much as job security.The protests are no longer isolated. ANATG, the Nagaland In service Doctors’ Association (NIDA), and umbrella bodies like CANSSEA have begun coordinating their actions. The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has also joined in, amplifying public pressure and framing the issue as a matter of justice for frontline workers and educators. This convergence of voices signals a broader civic movement, one that challenges the government’s moral authority and exposes its institutional inertia.Each broken commitment erodes trust further. Educators shaping the next generation and doctors who stood firm during a global health crisis now feel betrayed. New assurances sound hollow against the backdrop of past failures. The government’s hesitation is increasingly interpreted as weakness or indifference. With courts siding with employees and public sympathy leaning toward frontline workers, the state risks appearing both unjust and ineffective. In a small state like Nagaland, where governance is closely scrutinised, such failures quickly become systemic critiques. The government is caught between legal rulings it cannot ignore, public anger it cannot suppress, and institutional inertia it has failed to overcome. This triangulation leaves little room to manoeuvre as every delay compounds the perception of betrayal and every protest underscores the loss of credibility. The state government’s crisis is not merely about regularisation. It is about the erosion of trust in institutions, the failure to honour commitments, and the weakening of democratic accountability. Unless the government moves decisively to resolve these disputes, it risks being remembered not for its promises, but for its betrayals.