Morung Express News
Kohima | June 9
The Government of Nagaland appears to be facing a leadership gap in various departments, as inferred from an official Office Memorandum (OM).
To address the issue, the State Government now relaxed the qualifying service required for promotion to the post of Head of Department (HoD), formalised through an OM issued on June 4 by the Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department (DP&AR).
As per the OM, some departments, particularly those headed by senior cadre officers such as Principal Director or Engineer-in-Chief, ere facing these “hierarchical gaps.”
Accordingly, the new provision allows an officer holding the rank of Director or Chief Engineer in departments headed by cadre officers in the post of Principal Director or Engineer-in-Chief to be promoted to the HoD post on an officiating basis.
This is permissible upon completion of six months in the combined grade of Additional Director/Additional Chief Engineer and Director/Chief Engineer, it added.
“In case of Departments, headed by cadre Officers in the post of Principal Director or Engineer-in-Chief, an Officer in the rank of Director/Chief Engineer on completion of 6 (six) months in the combined grade of Addl. Director/Addl. Chief Engineer and Director/Chief Engineer may be promoted on officiating basis as Head of Department (HoD),” the OM stated.
However, it clarified that such promotions will require prior clearance from the DP&AR.
The officiating promotion will be subject to regularisation by the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) in the immediate lower rank of Director/Chief Engineer.
The order was issued with the approval of the State Cabinet on May 15, 2025.
Why the gaps?
The OM indicated that the new provisions was implemented in view of the challenges posed by the Nagaland Retirement from Public Employment (Second Amendment) Act, 2009, which revised the terms of service for government employees.
According to the 2009 Act, which amended Section 3 of the 2007 legislation, any person in public employment must retire either after completing 35 years of service or upon reaching the age of 60, whichever comes first.
The Section 3(2) of the amendment further stated that such retirement takes effect on the afternoon of the last day of the month in which the employee either turns 60 or completes 35 years of service.
This rule change might have led to situations where eligible senior officers retire before gaining enough years of qualifying service to be promoted to HoD posts. This may have resulted in the “hierarchical gaps” cited in the OM, and the current relaxation may have been introduced to address such situations.
