ITANAGAR, 17 Feb: Nearly a year after Chief Minister Pema Khandu gave assurance that the state government would meet all the “relevant demands” of the Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC), members of the committee at a press conference at the press club here on Saturday said that “the issue has not been resolved in a year, whereas it should have been addressed within a period of three months.”
Reiterating the committee’s demands, including, inter alia, implementation of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2023, and construction of a ‘statue of honesty’ in remembrance of late Gyamar Padang, PAJSC vice chairman Tadak Nalo said, “The CM had given a written assurance last year to meet all our demands. However, he has failed.”
Citing the case of PwD candidate Mudang Yabyang, he said that “there should be a streamlined process with regard to the persons with disabilities (PwD) category, and stringent and robust standard operating procedures should be implemented.”
The committee declared that it would organise a ‘pustak jalao andolan’ (book-burning movement) on Sunday, and urged the people across the state to make short videos of themselves burning their books “as a mark of solidarity on the issue headed by the PAJSC.” It also urged everyone to wear black dresses.
“Today we are here asking the CM why there has been no discussion on the issue even in the recently held state assembly over a matter of such importance,” said Nalo.
“In May 2023, there was a draft made by the government, but it was not followed by any action. In our state, there is no dedicated law to take cognisance of offences made in examinations, unlike in Assam, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan,” he added.
“The issue of the APPSC has not been resolved yet, and there are various loopholes coming up in several departments, such as the APSSB and the nursing department.
Through the APSSB fiasco, many other departments’ issues and their malpractices are also coming into the limelight now,” he said.
“The citizens of the state should carefully examine the final report card of the state government. One year has passed and not a single point has been addressed,” Nalo said, adding that “no representative has spoken on the issues, and the opposition, along with the three sitting MPs, has failed terribly.”
