The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court has quashed the recruitment process for 61 posts in the Nagaland government’s Department of Health and Family Welfare, citing procedural irregularities and reliance on outdated rules.
The order, passed on Wednesday, invalidated the recruitment for Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) and Female Health Worker (FHW) posts. A writ petition filed by 17 candidates challenged a corrigendum and notification issued last year, which had inserted 68 additional candidates for viva-voce without proper justification.
The court noted that although FHW candidates were initially permitted to apply and sit for the written test under the Nagaland Staff Selection Board (NSSB) advertisement of December 15, 2023, they were abruptly excluded through a corrigendum dated May 23, 2024. The bench ruled that this exclusion, as well as the state’s reliance on a “queue system” of recruitment, had no basis under the Nagaland Nursing Services Rules, 1988.
Declaring that “the entire recruitment process stands vitiated,” the High Court set aside both the provisional results published on May 22 and the corrigendum issued the following day.
The court directed the Nagaland government to amend the outdated 1988 Rules within 45 days to clearly specify eligibility criteria for ANM and FHW posts. It further ordered the Health and Family Welfare Department to send a fresh requisition to NSSB within 15 days of amending the rules.
The NSSB has been asked to issue a new advertisement and complete the recruitment process within six months. Candidates who appeared in the now-cancelled examination will be allowed to reapply, with age relaxation for the intervening period.
In pursuance of the order, the NSSB on Friday formally cancelled the written examination held on February 24, 2024, and notified that fresh recruitment will only be undertaken once the rules are amended and the department issues a revised requisition.
The Board has also been directed to widely publicise the cancellation through newspapers and its official website to ensure transparency.
