DIMAPUR, MAY 1 (MExN): The Naga Students Federation (NSF) has termed the recent reports in the local media wherein the Nagaland Senior Government Employees Welfare Association (NSGEWA) has extended support to a particular political organisation for the forthcoming by-election as both “amusing and ridiculous”. The NSF in a press note issued by outgoing President Mutsikhoyo Yhobu pointed out that as senior citizens and intellectuals, the NSGEWA instead of supporting any particular political organization should speak out their “experienced mind towards creating understanding amongst the different political groups for a better Naga society”.
“First and foremost it is indeed surprising to find a body that consists of former government servants taking political sides and declaring its stand to support the candidature of a political party. Such an attitude is totally unbecoming of persons who are considered responsible and senior citizens. It also needs to be questioned whether the decision to support a particular candidate had the mandate of the members who they claim to represent and whether the decision has been taken after getting the approval of its general body”, queried the NSF in its press note.
While criticizing the move of the NSGEWA in supporting a political party the NSF nevertheless also maintained that “the present State Government, which is in its second term of office, has performed much better than any previous regime especially on programmes and policies pertaining to empowerment and upliftment of the youth”. The NSF stated that the DAN government had “placed its hope on the youth and are making welcome investments in the greater interests of the youth” and “therefore it is indeed quite surprising that these retired persons have politically declared their support for a candidate who is in the autumn of his career”.
Moreover the NSF was of the viewpoint that there was no longer any need for the NSGEWA to continue to exist since as the purpose for which the body was formed is already a closed chapter after the High Court and the Supreme Court found no validity in their argument, questioning the Government of Nagaland’s decision to implement the law stipulating the length of service of government servants in Nagaland.
“The decision of the Nagaland Government to fix the length of service for government servants was taken on the basis of the demand of the students’ fraternity and the youth. The State government took the decision in order to create new opportunities of employment for the youth in the government sectors which is the common property of all the Naga citizens and not just for a few selected persons who were already in service”, stated the NSF. It was also pointed out that the “fixation of length of service was also necessitated due to the menace of age tampering where senior government employees shamelessly manipulated their age in order to serve longer in government service”.
“There are instances of people serving in the government even for periods beyond 40 years. The motives of the NSGEWA are also questionable since large amounts of money were collected from its members on the pretext of welfare activities but there is no transparent audit till today. There are hundreds of retired government employees who are unhappy with the leaders of the NSGEWA for dragging them unwillingly into prolonged court procedures and delaying them from getting timely pension benefits”, the NSF President stated.
The NSF also stated that many of the retired persons are still using government facilities even though they have already retired. “Many are still using government vehicles on the one hand and on the other hand they are declaring their political support for selected political parties. Isn’t this shameless and a poor example in the eyes of your own children? Aren’t the NSGEWA supposed to be responsible citizens of society expected to lead by example for the younger generations to follow?” the NSF questioned.
“First and foremost it is indeed surprising to find a body that consists of former government servants taking political sides and declaring its stand to support the candidature of a political party. Such an attitude is totally unbecoming of persons who are considered responsible and senior citizens. It also needs to be questioned whether the decision to support a particular candidate had the mandate of the members who they claim to represent and whether the decision has been taken after getting the approval of its general body”, queried the NSF in its press note.
While criticizing the move of the NSGEWA in supporting a political party the NSF nevertheless also maintained that “the present State Government, which is in its second term of office, has performed much better than any previous regime especially on programmes and policies pertaining to empowerment and upliftment of the youth”. The NSF stated that the DAN government had “placed its hope on the youth and are making welcome investments in the greater interests of the youth” and “therefore it is indeed quite surprising that these retired persons have politically declared their support for a candidate who is in the autumn of his career”.
Moreover the NSF was of the viewpoint that there was no longer any need for the NSGEWA to continue to exist since as the purpose for which the body was formed is already a closed chapter after the High Court and the Supreme Court found no validity in their argument, questioning the Government of Nagaland’s decision to implement the law stipulating the length of service of government servants in Nagaland.
“The decision of the Nagaland Government to fix the length of service for government servants was taken on the basis of the demand of the students’ fraternity and the youth. The State government took the decision in order to create new opportunities of employment for the youth in the government sectors which is the common property of all the Naga citizens and not just for a few selected persons who were already in service”, stated the NSF. It was also pointed out that the “fixation of length of service was also necessitated due to the menace of age tampering where senior government employees shamelessly manipulated their age in order to serve longer in government service”.
“There are instances of people serving in the government even for periods beyond 40 years. The motives of the NSGEWA are also questionable since large amounts of money were collected from its members on the pretext of welfare activities but there is no transparent audit till today. There are hundreds of retired government employees who are unhappy with the leaders of the NSGEWA for dragging them unwillingly into prolonged court procedures and delaying them from getting timely pension benefits”, the NSF President stated.
The NSF also stated that many of the retired persons are still using government facilities even though they have already retired. “Many are still using government vehicles on the one hand and on the other hand they are declaring their political support for selected political parties. Isn’t this shameless and a poor example in the eyes of your own children? Aren’t the NSGEWA supposed to be responsible citizens of society expected to lead by example for the younger generations to follow?” the NSF questioned.
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