Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 27 Jul: The Arunachal Frontier Tribal Front (AFTF) has accused the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) of partially modifying mid-exam the physical efficiency test (PET) and the physical standard test (PST) for male candidates for the post of DSP in the recent Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Combined Competitive Examination (APPSCCE)-2024.
The APPSC had issued a notification on 19 July, informing all qualified candidates (for viva voce) who appeared for PST and PET on 18 and 19 July that the criteria mentioned in the APPSC notification dated 9 July, 2025 had been partially modified. In its modified notification, the commission omitted the PET criterion and ‘obstacle crossing of any six of the following’, which triggered suspicion among the candidates who qualified the PET.
The AFTF is a new political party, headed by
former Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC) vice chairman Tadak Nalo, who speared the PAJSC movement against the cash-for-job scam in the commission.
“The obstacle race of any of the eight tasks has been omitted under suspicious and dubious circumstances. The latest notification has put the entire APPSCCE-2024 under the scanner and has created a storm, raising concerns,” stated Nalo.
Nalo further alleged that the partial modification for the male candidates has come in the middle of the examination process after the PET was already completed.
“There is confusion over why the rules couldn’t be changed during the advertisement, or amended before the examination process after the advertisement,” Nalo said.
He expressed concern that, through the latest notification for partial modification of the rules for the PET, the APPSC has violated its own SOP by bringing about sudden changes in the rules in the middle of the examination process.
He added that there is growing suspicion that the commission is favouring certain specific candidates. “Else, there is no question of sudden changes in the middle of the examination process when the PET was already completed,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the allegation, APPSC Secretary Parul Gaur Mittal clarified that the prescribed obstacle crossings as one of the events under the PET was followed in all earlier APPSCC examinations. The Arunachal Pradesh Police Service (Amendment) Rules, 2022 amended these qualifying conditions of the physical efficiency test.
“The result of the PET and physical standard test (PST) conducted on 18 and 19 July, 2025 was declared strictly as per the amended rules in place, ie, the Arunachal Pradesh Police Service (Amendment) Rules, 2022,” the APPSC secretary reiterated.
The commission denied that rules were changed mid-exam. “It is pertinent to mention that no rules have been changed in the middle of the examination and the result has been declared in conformity with the existing rules as notified by the APPS (Amendment) Rules, 2022, which had already been notified in the advertisement.
“The notification dated 9 July, 2025 was rectified after clarification from the Home Department to ensure correct implementation and accurate declaration of the result as per the rules in force,” the secretary added.
The commission further stated that it carried out the PET and the PST in the most transparent manner, “with the entire exam and results prepared digitally and under videography for Page 1 of 2 the first time.”
“All the qualifying exams of PET and PST have been carried out using RFID and digital technology to ensure no human interference in recording of tests data and timings. Since the commission wanted to adopt digital methods of testing and ensure maximum transparency, the third party required some extra time to transport and set up the equipment in Arunachal Pradesh,” it informed.
“The spread of unverified claims and misinformation on social media is not only undermining the functioning of the commission, which is conducting the examination with utmost transparency and fairness to ensure candidates are selected solely on merit, but is also discouraging all the candidates who have qualified for the viva voce and PET/PST on their own merit,” it stated, and appealed to the people to avoid spreading misinformation.