HT Digital
Friday, October 25: The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court recently issued a directive to the Nagaland Government concerning unpaid wages and administrative delays affecting Public Works Department (PWD) employee Zanbenth Ngullie. In response to a petition filed by Ngullie, Justice Sema of the High Court instructed the Registry to serve notice to government authorities, demanding a response within four weeks. This notice highlights a pressing issue in Nagaland regarding payment regularity and administrative delays affecting government employees.
Zanbenth Ngullie, who filed the petition, holds the position of Tracer with the Nagaland Public Works Department (NPWD). He asserts that he has not received his salary for a total of 21 months due to complications surrounding his Personal Information and Management System (PIMS) registration. Ngullie’s appointment was officially confirmed on December 8, 2022, by an order from the Engineer-in-Chief of NPWD. The position was granted with approval from the Nagaland Government, marking it as a sanctioned employment role.
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Following his appointment, a letter was sent on December 16, 2022, from the Engineer-in-Chief’s office to the Executive Engineer of the PWD, Division-I in Kohima, to officially inform them of the appointment. The next step was to enter Ngullie’s details into the PIMS database, which allows government employees to receive salaries and other benefits. In January 2023, the Engineer-in-Chief escalated the matter by sending Ngullie’s information to the Works & Housing Department’s secretary, aiming to facilitate his registration within the PIMS system.
After this, an additional request was made by the department’s Additional Secretary, recommending that Ngullie’s details be registered on the PIMS portal. Despite these efforts, there was still no response or action from the government, hindering the process necessary to make Ngullie eligible for payroll.
By June 2023, after several months of repeated attempts and follow-up letters, the Engineer-in-Chief addressed another request to the Commissioner and Secretary of the Works & Housing Department. This time, the letter urged the officials to take swift action to issue a PIMS code for Ngullie, as the absence of this code was the primary reason for his lack of salary payments. Despite continued administrative persistence, the government did not respond, ultimately leaving Ngullie without income.
Due to the lack of progress and his growing financial hardship, Ngullie chose to take the matter to the High Court, filing a petition for legal intervention. In his petition, he requested that the court mandate the Commissioner and Secretary of the Personnel & Administrative Reforms (P&AR) Department to expedite the registration of his PIMS code, a critical step toward enabling regular salary payments. He argued that since joining his position in January 2023, he had performed all duties expected of him and had reported to work regularly, yet had not been compensated.
The Kohima Bench of the Gauhati High Court, presided over by Justice Sema, reviewed Ngullie’s situation and directed the Registry to serve notice to the relevant government authorities. The court’s directive requires the Nagaland Government to respond within four weeks. This legal move marks a significant push toward addressing the salary-related grievances that affect many government employees in Nagaland.
The Nagaland Government is now under pressure to explain the delay in processing Ngullie’s employment registration and to clarify why multiple requests from the NPWD to register Ngullie in the PIMS database went unaddressed. This delay in issuing the PIMS code raises broader concerns about the efficiency of administrative procedures and the timely disbursement of salaries for public employees in Nagaland. The outcome of this case may have wider implications, as other employees facing similar challenges could be prompted to take legal recourse.
The case is also drawing attention to the Personal Information and Management System (PIMS), a system that is intended to streamline administrative processes for government employees but, in this instance, has resulted in severe financial strain due to delayed implementation. For Ngullie, like many public servants, timely salary payments are crucial to sustaining their livelihood, and long-term delays can have profound consequences.
With a four-week timeframe set by the court, the government will likely face increased scrutiny to resolve Ngullie’s case and to demonstrate that steps are being taken to improve PIMS registration procedures. This case underscores the importance of efficient administrative coordination and accountability, especially when it directly impacts the financial stability of government employees. As the High Court awaits the government’s response, there is cautious hope that these actions will set a precedent for improved payment procedures for all Nagaland’s government employees.
