State govt undermining meritocracy in IAS selection: Govt employee unions

Confederation of All Nagaland State Service Employees’ Association (CANSSEA), Federation of Nagaland State Engineering Service Association (FONSESA), Nagaland Secretariat Services Association (NSSA), and Nagaland Finance & Accounts Services Association (NF&ASA) expressed grave concern over the recent developments regarding state government’s “attempt to facilitate entry of backdoor-appointed individuals into the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre.”
The core-committee for non-SCS IAS induction through its media cell maintained that concern arose from a government circular, which invited applications from eligible officers for induction into one vacant IAS post from non-State Civil Services (non-SCS). It said the circular, which provided a 15-day application window, saw 10 applicants submit their names by the deadline.
However, the committee described as “alarmingly” the revocation of circular just one day after the submission deadline. It said the state government subsequently decided to amend the eligibility criteria– most notably removing the fourth criterion that originally upheld merit-based consideration.
It said that government took this decision under the pretext of following the IAS (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 and IAS (Appointment by Selection) Regulations, 1997. The service associations described the move as “a strategic manipulation” to accommodate backdoor appointees—officers who entered service without going through Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC).
“In an era where meritocracy should be the cornerstone of governance, this action undermines transparency and fairness. It opens the IAS—the premier civil service of the country—to those who have bypassed competitive, merit-based recruitment,” the associations said.
They said that the IAS (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 and IAS (Appointment by Selection) Regulations, 1997, was robust in design, but were never meant to facilitate illegal or unethical appointments.
Further, the associations stressed that states were empowered to strengthen central regulations, adding that Nagaland indeed had made positive strides in this direction previously.
In 2018, they said the Nagaland Civil Service Association (NCSA) had submitted a representation that led to Circulars mandating IAS induction only from those appointed via NPSC, a move seen as a step toward transparency and fairness.
However, they said that instead of reinforcing those standards, the recent governments’ decision reversed them. The associations alleged that this reversal was tailor-made to benefit a select few, setting a dangerous precedent whereby individuals with questionable modes of entry into service could end up in senior policymaking roles.
“This is not just only a procedural issue, it’s about the very integrity of our governance. If the entry into the IAS can be manipulated, then no aspect of the system is safe from nepotism,” the associations stated.
CANSSEA, FONSESA, NSSA, and NF&ASA said they had submitted numerous representations to the state government, but received “only a generic reply” stating that the process would proceed under the IAS (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 and IAS (Appointment by Selection) Regulations, 1997. They said the government ignored their calls for stricter eligibility norms and merit-based selections.
“The youth of Nagaland are striving for a system that rewards merit. This action by the State Government flies in the face of that struggle and institutionalizes nepotism,” the four service association said.
Therefore, the associations have demanded “an immediate correction of this misstep” and urged the government to reinstate strict merit-based eligibility criteria and cancel all actions taken to favour non-meritorious entrants. Failing which, the associations warned that they reserved the right to pursue appropriate democratic means of protest and legal recourse.