NASSA opposes ‘unilateral’ amendment of service rules

Nagaland Assembly Secretariat Staff Association (NASSA) clarified that their resentment and opposition to the service extension of Dr. P.J. Antony, a retired officer from Lok Sabha secretariat, was against the arbitrary exercise of amending the existing service rules by Antony himself and not against the effects of promotional avenues of the officers and staff of NLA Secretariat.
In a statement, NASSA president Pagai Ndang and general secretary Talirenla alleged that Antony had unilaterally amended the existing Service Rules to suit his interest of service extension by inserting a provision where a superannuated officer can be appointed on deputation in the Assembly Secretariat till the age of 65 years.
NASSA said the whole exercise of amending the service rules was arbitrarily done without observing any procedural norms and guidelines issued for this purpose and without consulting any senior administrative officers or the Service Rules Amendment Committee, constituted with a mandate to make recommendation for revision/amendment of the existing service rules.
It pointed out that Antony, after retirement, was re-appointed as commissioner & secretary of NLA in 2020 “under exceptional circumstances”, for a contract period of two years (June 1, 2020- May 31, 2022) which was necessitated at that time due to non-availability of the officers in the feeder cadre (required criteria) and other factors necessary to be promoted to the post of secretary.
As his tenure was due to expire on May 31, NASSA said Antony hastily amended the service rules to accommodate himself as a superannuated officer since there was no more provision within the Government established process for re-appointment except to amend the NLA service rules.
As the Cabinet had already approved creation of the post principal secretary, NASSA said relying on the enforcement of the May 18, 2022 amendment notification, the retired officer was proposed to be appointed as principal secretary. However, NASSA said it strongly objected to it.
Further, NASSA said that the operationalization of e-Vidhan application in the NLA by utilizing the expertise service of Antony did not necessarily warrant his extension of service as an administrative head of the NLA, since his service could be utilized as a resource person for the project as earlier.
NASSA also clarified that the e-Vidhan project was initiated by former Speaker and former commissioner & secretary and not the incumbent.