JCC sheds light on issue of IAS induction from non-SCS

Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of CANSSEA, FONSESA, NIDA, NSSA, NF&ASA on Saturday sought to shed light on the issue of IAS induction from non-State Civil Service (SCS) in response to circulation of “misinformation” surrounding the issue.
In a press release, JCC pointed out that under the IAS (Recruitment) Rules, 1954, induction into the IAS from the State Services was managed through two main processes: State Civil Service (SCS) — officers who belong to the established State Civil Service Cadre like Nagaland Civil Service (NCS) and non-state civil service (Non-SCS) — officers not belonging to the formal state civil service cadre, but who hold equivalent gazetted posts of merit and service in the state government.
The committee stated that total number of senior IAS positions in any state was subject to a quota system. At most, JCC said 33.33% of those positions can be filled via promotion/induction from state services (SCS and Non-SCS combined). Within this one-third quota, JCC said up to 15% (meaning 15% of the 33.33%) can be reserved for non-SCS to which non-SCS officers may be selected.
For non-SCS officers, JCC said selection process was more stringent. It explained that in addition to meeting basic eligibility criteria, they must demonstrate “outstanding merit and ability” as emphasised in the IAS Regulations making the induction of non-SCS officers into IAS a rare and highly competitive process.
Against the backdrop of those rules and regulations, JCC said the state government issued a Vacancy Circular for induction of non-SCS officers into the IAS on March 10, 2025 with Clause No. 4 unequivocally limiting eligibility to candidates recruited into government service through the NPSC.
In essence, JCC said those who did not enter service through NPSC were ineligible. It said that applicants were given 15 days to apply counting from the date of the Vacancy Circular.
However, JCC said that one day after the last day of submission, the Vacancy Circular was withdrawn on March 25, 2025 without any justifiable reason.
JCC said this raised immediate concerns among service associations, which suspected procedural manipulation. It said their suspicions were confirmed when “in an extraordinary turn of events”, the state cabinet convened a meeting on March 27, 2025 and directed P&AR department to re-advertise the Vacancy Circular as per central guidelines.
“What is baffling is that, the same exact Vacancy Circular was good enough to be utilised for induction of Non-SCS officers for the Select List of 2019 in the year 2020 and till the 24th March 2025 until it was found to be defective and replaced,” JCC stated.
It maintained that this sequence of events exposed “a deep and troubling reality” that the state cabinet “can be mobilised overnight to serve vested interest.”
According to JCC, the DOPT guidelines mandates that an officer to be inducted into IAS must possess “outstanding merit and ability”. It said merit reflects proven competence; ability and intelligence-qualities assessed through rigorous examinations and demonstrated performance.
JCC asserted that “backdoor appointees” having bypassed this mandatory and fundamental process, cannot claim such merit and lack the legitimacy required for entry into government service, let alone being inducted into the IAS.
JCC reminded that institutions like NPSC exist to ensure merit-based recruitment through transparent and fair procedures. The committee said their rules and eligibility criteria were set to ensure that only suitable individuals were considered for recruitment. JCC said those recruitment rules and eligibility criteria promoted merit-based selection, upholding transparency and accountability.
Further, JCC said that merit-based selection was fundamental to fair governance and reinforce the principles of meritocracy in public service.
The committee, however, said to suggest that a backdoor appointee was of outstanding merit or ability undermined the very rationale for institutions like NPSC/NSSB and disrespected the integrity of the nation’s premier civil Service—IAS, adding insults to the collective wisdom of Service Associations and the public.
JCC said that government’s “arrogant and self-righteous stance” on the issue hinges on the hollow argument that DoPT Guidelines were silent on the NPSC criteria for induction into the IAS. “This is not a principled defence of meritocracy but it is a calculated attempt to cloak blatant favouritism and nepotism in the language of procedure,” JCC maintained.
It argued that silence in the DoPT guidelines was not a consent for making backdoor appointees eligible, but a gap that should be filled with fairness and merit, which existed in the Circular Vacancy of March 10, 2025. JCC said that by conveniently exploiting the absence of any explicit mention of the NPSC in the Guidelines, they were undermining the spirit of the very merit-based principles the DoPT upholds, all to secure positions for their favoured candidate(s).
Therefore, JCC said that the proposed pen down strike was called to awaken the conscience of the government, the general public and the student community who were striving for merit.
JCC said there had been overwhelming support towards proposed pen down strike from various individuals and organisations.