Kohima, Feb 11: The Nagaland government on February 10 outlined the status of the long-pending regularisation process of 1,166 ad-hoc and contract teachers under the School Education Department, tracing the legal and administrative developments that have shaped the issue over the years.
The All Nagaland Adhoc Teachers Group, comprising teachers appointed against sanctioned posts between the late 1990s and 2012, has been demanding regularisation of service. In May 2017, the government conducted document verification and a suitability test in line with Personnel and Administrative Reforms (P&AR) office memoranda that allowed regularisation after three years of continuous service, subject to cabinet approval. Although eligible candidates were recommended and a cabinet memorandum was submitted in October 2017, the process was stalled after the Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench, restrained the state from regularising contract appointments under the existing memoranda. Subsequent court orders suspended the provisions, leading the cabinet to defer the proposal.
In August 2018, the cabinet decided to double the fixed remuneration of ad-hoc teachers, and scale pay under the Sixth Revision of Pay was granted in October 2018.
Following a fresh representation by the teachers in September 2021, the matter was referred to P&AR. Citing the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgment in State of Karnataka vs Uma Devi, the department advised that, as a one-time measure, employees who had completed ten years of continuous service as of April 10, 2006 could be considered for regularisation.
After an agitation in September–October 2022, the government constituted a high-powered committee headed by the principal secretary to the chief minister. The committee submitted its report in June 2023.
On February 9, 2024, the cabinet adopted a policy for regularisation of contract and ad-hoc employees. A resolution passed by the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly in March 2024 led to the issuance of a one-time regularisation policy on March 16, 2024 for employees appointed against sanctioned posts prior to June 6, 2016. A screening committee was formed in June 2024 to examine eligible cases, and the School Education Department forwarded details of 2,487 ad-hoc and contract employees for scrutiny.
In December 2025, the teachers’ group issued an ultimatum, warning of agitation if regularisation was not completed by January 30, 2026. After a series of meetings, the group submitted a seven-point charter of demands on February 4, 2026, seeking immediate regularisation, arrears from October 2018, seniority from the date of appointment, posthumous regularisation for deceased members and exemption from another suitability test.
On February 9, 2026, the Directorate of School Education received a letter from the group indicating plans for a hunger strike. The department urged the teachers to defer the proposed action, assuring continued engagement and early consideration of their concerns.
The government stated that all stakeholders are working in coordination to resolve the matter, adding that the issue is being examined from legal and administrative perspectives, given that the School Education Department has the second-largest manpower strength in the state.
