Shillong, April 01: The Khasi Student’s Union (KSU) today has submitted memorandum to the Director of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Science (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong, Meghalaya Dr. Nalin Metha on the anomalies on the recruitment process in the hospital.
In the memorandum the Union appreciates that NEIGRIHMS has accepted the demand made by the Union in the previous years to conduct the recruitment for its nursing staffs by itself and not by NORCET as the Union has observed that conducting examination through NORCET was totally disastrous for the indigenous tribals of the State and the Institute itself because of the short sightedness of the administration in negating various crucial factors at that point of time.
Nonetheless, the Union has again observed various anomalies in the recent and present advertisement No. NEIGR E.III/15/2014/Pt.VII published on 22nd March, 2025 and not January as stated in the advertisement which prompted the Union to seek clarification from the Deputy Registrar on the 24th of March, 2025 and also check the Roster Register of NEIGRIHMS on the 27th of March, 2025.
The Union is not satisfied with the clarifications made by the Deputy Registrar upon various issues raise by the Union and upon inspecting the roster register and the reservation the Union detected various errors in the policy framework of NEIGRIHMS which needs urgent addressal.
The Union would like to mentioned the following anomalies in the advertisement which are as follows the age limit, based on the advertisement it is seen that the age limit for nursing officer and other posts has been reduced to 30 years and the Pharmacist to 27 years. In the previous years of recruitment, the age limit was always set on 35 years and all of sudden to bring it down to 30 years has impacted the aspiring candidates drastically.
The decision of the administration is this regard is totally flawed and illogical as setting a lower age limit will significantly impact the workforce diversity, have economic implications, reduce the talent pool and limit the experience and maturity which is required for the overall effectiveness in medical sector.
The amendment made in the Recruitment Rules for limiting the age limit to 30 years must be scrapped and original age limit of 35 years must be put into place with other relaxation for reserved categories. The Union would also like to attached the previous years advertisement published by NEIGRIHMS in this regard for your necessary information as Annexure -I, II and III.
Male and Female Nursing Officer Ratio: The previous nursing officer recruitment done in the year 2023 through NORCET was a huge blunder on the path of the NEIGRIHMS administration. In 2023 it was seen that, 194 candidates were selected out of which 175 were male nurses and only 19 female’s nurses were selected. These 175 male nurses are ‘leftovers’ who have not been selected in other institute and have been dump in NEIGRIHMS all because the administration was shortsighted for not having male female ratio of 20:80.
The recruitment for nursing officer in that very year was also done by NORCET but AIIMS had a 20:80 male female ratio which enable them to grab the best candidates (Annexure IV is attached herewith for your necessary information). These male nurses are mostly from Rajasthan and have no experience whatsoever and are a nuisance in the medical sector.
Countless complaints have been received by the Union against these male nurses who are incompetent in delivering out their work and are also a threat to the lives of the patients. If the other institution can have a 20:80 ratio then what is stopping NEIGRIHMS also to follow the same.
In Ranveer Singh & Anr vs Union of India, the Central Administrative Tribunal held that, “The reservation of 80% posts of Nursing Officer for female, as notified, is considered to be a special provision for women candidate under Article 15 (3) of the Constitution as a separate classification and is held to be valid.”
The Union would like to point out that even the Judiciary acknowledge the 20:80 male female ratio and it is high time for NEIGRIHMS administration to do the same and not to repeat the blunders of the past.
Experience from 50 bedded hospital: In the present advertisement for nursing officer, one of the criteria mentioned is that a candidate who is eligible to apply must have 2 (two) years’ experience from a 50 bedded hospital. This is the first time that NEIGRIHMS had sought for experience from a candidate.
The Union does not have any objection for seeking 2 (two) years’ experience but the clause from 50 bedded hospitals must be removed. The reason being that this will halt or make the local nurses ineligible to apply who have been working for years in PHCs, CHCs and other hospitals in Meghalaya as most of these medical institutions does not have 50 bedded but that does not conclude that nurses who work in such small hospitals are incapable.
Computer Based Test (CBT) mode to be avoided: It is a fact that CBT is the way to the future but as of yet Meghalaya is not ready for CBT. Reason being that in our State there are shortages of computer centres and there is a lack of infrastructure.
NEIGRIHMS has outsource the examination to the agency HLL and in the past this agency has made too many mistakes and the problems still persist at present. There are also allegations that this agency is involved in malpractice and there is also no assurance that it may not repeat as NEIGRIHMS authorities will not be able to monitor the recruitment examination.
The Union is not in favour of CBT examination as it will be biased because with lack of computer centres, there will be different shifts for exams. The questions from one shift may be easier or tougher to the other shifts or if the questions are repeated, it may give unnecessary advantage to other candidates. So, the Union humbly demand for offline examination through OMR for recruitment.
Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation in Meghalaya invalid: The Union has observed that there is a 27% reservation for OBC in the recruitment of central government. The Union would like to highlight that in the State of Meghalaya, we have a Schedule Tribe list and a Schedule Caste List but there is no list for OBC. Meghalaya does not recognise any OBC in the State.
So, the question the question now arises as to how did NEIGRIHMS advertised for OBC post and how did OBC candidates fill up past recruitments. Its is obvious that candidates from outside the state claims OBC status in the State of Meghalaya which is very much illegal and the administration of NEIGRIHMS has been doing so deliberately to infiltrate the institute with people from outside the State neglecting the rights of indigenous tribals.
It is an established law that ST/SC/OBC candidates from other states cannot claim their special status in a different state. The Supreme Court in Bir Singh v. Delhi Jal Board held that, “individuals belonging to SCs/STs in one state or UT cannot claim reservation in another state or UT solely based on their original classification and any deviation from this is unconstitutional.”
This is also applicable for OBCs. In M.C.D v. Veena & Ors it was held that, “migrants are not entitled to reservation as OBC in the States where they have migrated.” Similarly, there are many other judgements made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in this regard. Thus, it is utmost clear that recruitment in the past given to OBC and the present reservation is flawed and null and void.
Roster Register maintained by NEIGRIHMS not proper: After inspection of the Roster Register, the Union is of the view that the register was mismanaged and not fill as per rules. In some post there is a short fall for reservation of STs and in some post there are excess of reservation of SCs and other categories. The roster register must be reviewed and filled accordingly and the advertisement must be advertised after reviewing the vacancies and the cadre strength and must be plotted as per reservation.
Criteria for Economical Weaker Section (EWS) must be definite: NEIGRIHMS should accept an income and assets certificate coming only from a competent and designated authority of the State and cannot rely on self-declaration or affidavits declared by the candidate. It is also alleged that there are individual(s) who is/are not domicile of Meghalaya but avail the reservation of EWS. Such kind of practice if it is there, is condemnable and must not be entertained.
Excess reservation for Scheduled Castes in Group and Grade B: In Meghalaya, the population of SCs in the State is about 1% of the total population and for them to have 15% reservation in the central government jobs is Meghalaya is excessive. In this category also, it is alleged that there are many individuals not being domicile of Meghalaya who claim this special status of SCs for Meghalaya.
Backlog vacancies: On inspection of the roster register by the Union, the Union came across that the backlog vacancies were not in order as to how many recruitment years they remained vacant or unfilled. It is also learnt that there was backlog for EWS which should not be the case as there can be no backlog for EWS vacancies.
There has to be a proper documentation as to the recruitment being done to filled as per the backlog vacancies at earliest and if on several recruitment years that such vacant post(s) is not being filled to be changed to other category.
Thus, in view of the above observation mentioned above, the Union would like to place the following demands, Age limit must be reinstated as 35 years instead of 30 years with other relaxation for reserved categories. There must be a 20:80 male female ratio for nursing officer. Experience certificates only from 50 bedded hospitals must be removed and experience certificates from registered hospitals must be taken into consideration.
Recruitment must be done through offline mode (OMR). Roster register must be reviewed and plot accordingly as per reservation allotted. There has to be a clear indication of backlog vacancies and as to how many recruitment years they remained vacant and unfilled and as such has to be de-reserved and allotted elsewhere.
OBC reservation must be abolished in Group B & C in Meghalaya since there is no OBC list. Scheduled Caste reservation in Group B must be cut down to 1% as reserved in Group C based on population. 9. OBC reservation of 27% in Group B and 5% in Group C must be reverted back to Scheduled Tribes of the State of Meghalaya (Khasi/ Jaintia/ Garo). Previous year recruitment also needs to be scrutinized based on the above-mentioned points and actions must be taken accordingly.
The Union would humbly like to request you that immediate action maybe taken in this regard to resolve and take necessary actions as to see that the rights of the indigenous tribals of the state are not infringed and also to uphold the standards of medical care in NEIGRIHMS which has fallen after the former recruitment which recruited ‘left over’ nurses.
The Union also request that the present advertisement to be kept in abeyance until the matters are being addressed and steps taken. Any deviation from the above mentioned request will prompt the Union to take a different course of action, the memorandum was sign by the Mr. Donald V Thabah General Secretary Khasi Students’ Union and Mr. Reuben Najiar Asst. General Secy cum Chairman Employment Monitoring Cell Khasi Students’ Union.
