Editor,
In more than half-a-month of the APPSC AE paper leakage case, there has not been a day without any aspirant out there expressing their despondency.
Over the past weeks, there has been a rampant hue and cry among the people, and even social media seemed hijacked and deluged under the bellows of criticism towards the commission and the government.
The joint fight for justice by various sections of society, especially the contribution of AAPSU–ANSU, and CM Khandu himself expresses seriousness to bring forth not just justice but a solution; but the time that is being wasted amidst this bottleneck is what concerns me.
The commission has conducted only a few exams in a decade. The APPSC examination of 2013 took three-and-a-half years to complete, disrupting several other examinations in between. Yet again, in 2017-2020, it took another four years to complete the examination.
The age bar and the youthful prime age of an aspirant have been lost in the process and the loss is irreparable. Now, the year 2022 is on the verge of repeating history again.
Amidst the growing embroils and developing crevasses of trust deficit among the dejected youths on the esteemed commission, an article published in The Arunachal Times with the title, ‘APPSC fiasco: Hope and despair’, written by Longding DIPRO Nyatum Doke, on the current scenario of the state, vis-à-vis the APPSC fiasco, tries to give a solution, which I think all should ponder upon.
Doke in his article said, “As an immediate measure to keep the cart moving, the government should give a thought towards handing over the process of conducting the APPSC exams to the UPSC till the process of reformation is ongoing. It will not just give a new ray of hope to the students but also give adequate time to the investigation agencies to probe the case thoroughly. Devising an immediate solution to conduct exams during the investigation until the investigation is completed is important. The aspirants should not be made to wait for an eternity.”
I totally agree with this. However, there can be differences in opinion, but this seems to be one of the measures to avoid losing the time and age bar of a genuine aspirant.
I hope that our representatives would surely look into the matter with their wisdom and understanding, keeping the will of aspirants imperatively.
At this juncture, it is not easy for a despondent youth to be objective, reasonable, and sensitive, but as the officer writes, ”We should refrain from giving the ‘wrongdoings’ an identity, or vilify each other because the problem cannot be resolved by isolating our brethren in the process” is truly an eye-opener for many aspirants who in the midst of fiasco seem deviated.
It was inevitable that the fiasco would result in such embroils, the sole responsible for the intellectual chaos is the commission itself. How unfortunate it is that the state’s most highly decorated institution has to fall prey to this extent where the future officers, teachers, engineers, and other officials have to pay the price for which they do not deserve. Now, the jostling clamorous youths are pressuring the representative for immediate stringent action, but having said that, the incessant growth of negativity has gathered venoms of words.
“It is understandable that students and aspirants are not able to see through the diaphanous curtains of all the negative news enveloping their path to their goals,” Doke said, and added that “Nevertheless, everything is not lost forever, and there is still hope and, in fact, it may prove to be the best times later in hindsight.”
Quoting from one of my favourite poems To Hope’ by John Keats: “When by my solitary hearth I sit/And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom/When no fair dreams before my “mind’s eye” flit/And the bare heath of life presents no bloom/Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed/And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head.”
As of these moments, we all are in, when we sit wrapped up in our own emotions and distressed, one thing that we needed is hope. John Keats in the above lines expresses a similar thing, wanting the “sweet hope” to come to him and improve his mood, and Nyatum Doke’s excerpt on ‘hope’ truly fits in.
The trust that everyone had in the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has been breached in exorbitant manner due to some corrupt officers. However, even if we slam the commission and bring it down to the ground, it would still remain “the highest and dignified” body to help contribute in the glory of our state, upon which not just us, but even our next generation shall look up to.”
But as of now, “who shall mend the trust that has been breached?” You, me, the commission, or the government?
An aspirant