[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 21 Jan: Professor Pradip Lingfa was sworn in as the new chairman of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) here on Sunday by Governor KT Parnaik.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy CM Chowna Mein, and several other cabinet ministers were present on the occasion.
Born in 1969 in Yangje village near Seppa in East Kameng district, Prof Lingfa was working as the head of the mechanical engineering department of the North East Regional Institute of Science & Technology (NERIST) before joining as the new APPSC chairman.
He started his academic career in Pampoli, near Seppa, and passed Class 8 from the Govt Middle School there. Later, he passed Class 10 and 12 exams from the Govt Higher Secondary School in Seppa.
During his academic career, Prof Lingfa published 51 articles in reputed journals and attended several international and national conferences. He also organised international conferences, short-term courses, regional seminars, and industry institute interaction programmes.
He had joined the NERIST on 15 February, 1996 as a lecturer, and was promoted as a professor on 30 March, 2015. He earned a BTech degree in mechanical engineering from MG University, Kerala, in 1993, and later went on to do MTech and PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Talking to the media, Prof Lingfa assured the aspirants that he would work hard with the new team to regain the faith of the youths.
“I will try my best to restore the faith of the youth in the commission, as the future of the state lies in the youths. The lost glory of the commission needs to be restored, so that the best candidates get selected. In fact, my mission is to make the APPSC the best commission of India,” he said.
Prof Lingfa urged the aspirants to start preparing for the examinations. “Once I sit in the office, we will work out the best possible way to improve the commission. Also, we will make an effort to start conducting competitive examinations as soon as possible. Please have faith in us and keep preparing for the examinations,” he said.
He further said that his team would “extend all possible cooperation to the CBI,” which is conducting the investigation into the APPSC question paper leak scam.
Meanwhile, Prof Ashan Riddi, who was selected as one of the members of the APPSC, will not be joining the office. “He has expressed regret, citing personal reasons for not being able to join as a member of the commission. We have already issued advertisements to fill the vacancy,” informed an official.
Prof Riddi teaches at Rajiv Gandhi University in Rono Hills, Doimukh.
On the other hand, the case related to former member Mepung Tadar Bage is currently being heard in the court. Out of five members, with the joining of Prof Lingfa as the chairman, the commission has now three active members. The other two are retired colonel Koj Tari and Rosy Taba.
