The Nagaland Medical Students’ Association (NMSA) has announced that it will continue its peaceful protest today, September 1, against the state government’s decision to regularise 280 contractual employees who were appointed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The association argues that the move undermines merit-based recruitment and threatens the principles of fairness and transparency in public service. The demonstration will begin at 9:30 AM at the Secretariat Bus Stand in Kohima. From there, students plan to march in a procession towards the Department of Health & Family Welfare, where the main protest will take place. According to the NMSA, the protest is intended to remain peaceful but determined, as students seek to highlight what they see as a serious violation of recruitment norms.
The association has also appealed to student bodies, civil society organisations, and concerned citizens across Nagaland to join the protest in solidarity. Organisers have encouraged groups to send representatives to deliver messages of support and solidarity speeches at the protest site. The dispute stems from a government notification issued on August 18 by the Department of Health & Family Welfare. The order announced the regularisation of 280 contractual staff members appointed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when emergency recruitment was carried out to meet urgent manpower shortages in hospitals and health centres. While the move was welcomed by some as recognition of the services rendered during the crisis, medical students say the decision bypasses established recruitment procedures and denies equal opportunity to those seeking government jobs.
NMSA’s demands:
1) In its statement, the NMSA has put forward two key demands:
2) Immediate revocation of Notification No. HFW(A)10/34/2024/145.
Immediate requisitioning of all sanctioned posts to the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC) or Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB), to be filled through open advertisement, written examination, and viva voce in line with service rules. The association has described the government’s policy as “unjust and discriminatory,” insisting that all appointments to public posts must follow due process. “It is now or never. Let us raise our voices together against this unjust and discriminatory policy,” the NMSA said in its appeal to the public.
