Question and hour session on the second day of the ongoing budget session of the 12th Nagaland Legislative Assembly saw the government on the defensive as the home minister Y. Patton found himself cornered and on the back foot over backdoor appointments in the police department.
Interestingly, in an opposition-less assembly, BJP legislator Mmhonlumo KIkon acted like the voice of the opposition when he spearheaded the afternoon session with queries on backdoor appointments in the police department which purportedly has crossed the 2000-mark since 2013 to 2017.
Mmhonlumo came prepared with facts and figures as he gripped the attention of the entire house with incisive questions and counter arguments which deeply embarrassed the government. His demands for a comprehensive list of those appointed through backdoor in the department was not met as the minister went on a long winding way to justify the long held practice in the department.
While responding to the BJP legislator, minister of home Y. Patton maintained that though the 2010 memorandum by the P&AR department was explicit in that no department of directorate can make any appointment(s) even for Grade IV staff without its approval; he claimed that the memorandum excluded the Police department where appointments could be made without government sanction.
He went on to state that appointments of ABSI, ASI, UBSI and grade IV was done through PHQ while for constables it was done by the concerned SPs and Commandants.
In his written reply, Patton admitted that 2078 posts (UBSI-20, ABSI-21, SI NPTO- 21, MTSI- 2, ASI-17, Havildar- 35, THC- 22, Constables- 1901, Clerical- 39) were filled up directly without any advertisements. He also pointed out that the Police Headquarters had appointed an Assistant Sub-Inspector from the BJP MLA’s constituency.
Patton further cited an instance where a police officer prior to his retirement had made 22 fresh appointments for constables. In this regard, Patton expressed helplessness saying unless the 2010 office memorandum which mentioned ‘except police department’ be corrected, government cannot control the random appointments.
Patton further cited appointments for 308 posts for ENPO candidates in ENPO areas in 2015 as a point of argument. He said filing up vacancies only after advertisement would be time taking and cause shortage of manpower and adversely affect the functioning of battalions and DEF. In order to avoid this, Patton said Commandants and SPs filled up vacancies through laid down criteria and after which those recruits were sent for training where a centralised screening committee conducted further tests.
He also justified such appointments without open advertisements by pointing out that when Longleng, Peren and Kiphire districts were formed, no new posts were created and the required manpower was met through excess appointments. He also pointed out that though Police department has vehicle strength of 1567 yet there were only 912 drivers sanctioned and to meet with the demand, General Duty (GD) constables in battalions were utilised in battalions.
The minister continued to throw facts and figures as defence though he could not justify “backdoor appointments” in the departments. He cited the situation in the traffic wing which had only 168 personnel in Dimapur and Kohima. Patton said in view of the need, today there were 481 personnel in the traffic wing deployed from other branches.
He also clarified that when he took over home and police in 2014 there were already 1600 excess appointments and by 2017 the figure remained the same.
He further said as Police department being the biggest department with a strength of 26,000 it was normal to have 450 to 500 personnel going on retirement every year.
In this respect, Patton said that in a span of four years the number of constable retiring would be around 1800 to 2000 and this many were to be filled up by the Units and DEFs after following the laid down criteria. He therefore maintained that recruitment of 2100 odd constables over a period of four years including appointment of 270 odd constables for Eastern Nagaland as a special measure in 2015 was “perfectly normal” for the Department.
Patton also denied the question of making excess appointments in the last three to four years stating that as explained, owing to various reasons the Police Department over the past many years had been forced to appoint excess personnel over and above the sanctioned strength to ensure smooth functioning.
Kikon maintained that appointments without advertisements to provide fair opportunities to capable youths were tantamount to violation of fundamental rights.
As the Patton was cornered, chief minister, Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu tried to defend the beleaguered minister by stating that from time to time the Police department needed to recruit more manpower to address the growing law and order situation in the state. However, Kikon demanded setting up of a judicial inquiry under a sitting judge to decide whether such appointments made so far qualified as backdoor appointments. He maintained that there was a gulf of difference between excess appointments and backdoor appointments. He also warned to file a writ petition in the court to ensure that excess appointments were curbed and backdoor appointment abolished.
He also went on to point out that since Longleng, Peren and Kiphire districts were created without any new posts creation, excess appointments were made, as necessity, to cater to need.
Further, NPF legislator TokhehoYepthomi in a supplementary question to the Home minister sought to know the position of the excess appointments. Patton responded saying the excess appointments were already made before he took over and it persisted till date. He gave an assurance that the department would look into the matter.
In the debate on the Motion of thanks to the Governors’ address, BJP MLA Mmhonlumo Kikon raised the issue of having a transparent recruitment policy for government jobs. He said the Personnel Information Management System (PIMS) initiated by all the departments should be launched and made public.
“This would enable the public to see the vacancy in every department as the list will accrue every year and potential job seekers can immediately find out the vacancies and backdoor appointments will be avoided,” he said.