Students and job aspirants on Tuesday resumed their protest against the Nagaland government’s “failure” to revoke the regularisation of services of 147 assistant professors and librarians.
The protest reignited in Kohima despite the government having held separate back-to-back talks on Monday with the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), the Combined Technical Association of Nagaland (CTAN), and the Nagaland NET Qualified Forum (NNQF).The government had also decided to reduce the timeline of the five-member committee—formed on April 21 to examine the issue—from two months to one.
Members of the NSF, the All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU), CTAN and NNQF demonstrated outside the directorate of higher education in Kohima amid tight security. Tensions briefly escalated when protestors attempted to enter the office premises, resulting in minor jostling with the police.
The NSF had earlier issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government to revoke the December 17 decision to regularise the services of the 147 contractual faculty and librarians. That deadline expired on Tuesday.
On Monday, CTAN and NNQF had declared their intent to resume protests from Tuesday, expressing dissatisfaction with the government’s response so far.
The students and aspirants are demanding that the Cabinet immediately revoke the regularisation order and dissolve the fact-finding committee, which they allege is merely a stalling tactic.