An influential students’ union in Mizoram has asked a non-Mizo IAS officer to leave the Higher and Technical Education Department and shift to another in order to avoid “conflict” and “communal issues”.
Members of the Mizo Students’ Union (MSU) also barricaded the office of the Higher and Technical Education Directorate in Mizoram capital Aizawl on Tuesday to prevent Nazuk Kumar, a 2016 batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, from attending office.
AGMUT expands to Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory.
In a letter to Ms. Kumar on March 8, MSU president Samuel Zoramthanpua said medical and technical examinations conducted by her department had in the past led to conflicts and raised communal issues.
“…therefore, MSU always demand a local person in order to prevent such problems. Therefore, MSU kindly request you to decline from the current office for the students’ welfare and sought a new post under the government of Mizoram (sic),” the letter said.
Ms. Kumar was transferred from Chandigarh to Mizoram in January as the additional secretary in the Information and Communication Technology Department. She was soon posted as the Director of the State’s Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department but was shifted to the Higher and Technical Education Department within three days.
“There have been protests over allotment of seats for medical and technical courses whenever a non-Mizo officer headed the department in the past. We have nothing against her personally, but a non-local must not hold such an important post as it involves the careers of indigenous students,” Mr. Zoramthanpua said.
“We want a Mizo officer who understands the local ethos and interests of the students,” he said, adding that the MSU took to the streets after the State government did not heed a memorandum submitted to Deputy Chief Minister Tawnluia on March 2 for replacing Ms. Kumar with a Mizo officer.
Local dailies in Aizawl quoted an unnamed Mizo officer as saying that many departments legally require an IAS officer to head as the director, but the State has been facing a shortage of Mizo IAS officers.
The “communal issues” that the MSU referred to invariably pertains to seats allocated to students belonging to the Chakma community under Category-I of the State Medical and Technical Entrance Examination. Many Chakmas, who have an autonomous council in southern Mizoram, are viewed as outsiders and thus not eligible for the category reserved for indigenous or permanent residents of the State.
Mizoram had erupted in violence in 2015 when 38 Chakma students were given seats for medical and technical courses. This made the State government amend The Mizoram (Selection of Candidates for Higher Technical Courses) Rules, 1991.
Seats for medical and technical courses from Mizoram are also allotted under two other categories. Category-II is for children of non-local permanent residents of the State and Category-III for children of Central or other State government employees not permanently serving in Mizoram.
