CANSSEA, allied forums stage sit-in in Nagaland with 5 charters of demand

Kohima, Sep 23 (PTI) The Confederation of All Nagaland State Services Association (CANSSEA), along with allied service organisations, on Tuesday staged a sit-in outside its office here in support of the nationwide call given by the All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGF).

CANSSEA President Zubemo Lotha Tsanglao said the protest was a continuation of the general strike held on July 9, and would contiue "till the goals are achieved".

He said while AISGF had placed 11 demands at the national level, CANSSEA has adopted five specific to Nagaland, which has been submitted as a representation to the chief secretary.

The employees demanded the constitution of a State Pay Commission ensuring the benefits of the Eighth Central Pay Commission and periodical pay revision once in five years.

They are also asking for the repeal of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, scrap NPS/UPS, direct fund managers to return the amount deposited to the state government, and bring all subscribers under EPS-95 to a defined benefit pension system.

Implementing a comprehensive health insurance scheme with government support, ensuring cashless treatment in all hospitals for pensioners, regular and contractual employees under the CMHIS (Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme), and improve facilities in empanelled district hospitals is their third demand.

They have also asked for implementing in toto the eligibility criteria for induction/selection to the IAS cadre of Nagaland as per the vacancy circular of March 10 to ensure equity, meritocracy, and service security across cadres in state services.

Nagaland National Pension System Government Service Employees Forum, President, Avizo Nienu strongly reiterated the demand to scrap the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

He warned that NPS endangered the future of employees and "might drag lakhs of people into the market", posing one of the biggest governance challenges for Nagaland.

"The government is silent and not responding to our representations. If this continues, it might lead our good governance to a failure," Nienu said, urging the state to find ways to restore OPS "for the welfare of employees and citizens of Nagaland." Responding to queries, Tsanglao acknowledged that certain demands, such as the NPS-OPS reversal, required central government intervention, though some resource-rich states had already restored OPS.

He said CANSSEA would continue to support the AISGF's movement to scrap the PFRDA Act and roll back NPS nationwide. PTI NBS NBS RG