[Indu Chukhu]
The results of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Combined Competitive Examination (APPSCCE)-2024 were out on 8 August.
Altogether 140 candidates cleared the exam, out of which 68 are women and 72 are men, showing a good strength of women officers.
Nineteen women and 31 men secured the APCS entry grade, while two women and four men secured the Arunachal Pradesh Police Service entry grade in the rank of deputy superintendents of police.
There were two women and seven men PwD candidates.
Since 2017, this is the third batch of APCS officers produced by the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission, after the infamous paper leak scam.
There would be many inspiring stories with regard to the APPSCCE. This reporter reached out to a few, with special focus on women.
With consistency, dedication and a never-give-up attitude, Tana Yami, who ranked 83 and has been inducted as assistant station superintendent, shared her journey of preparing for the APCS since 2017. She is a graduate in electrical & electronics engineering.
She said she had faced the interview in 2017 in her first attempt, and after the paper leak issue, she could not clear her mains in her second attempt. While she was discouraged, she chose to write the probationary officer examination and joined service as assistant bank manager at the Central Bank of India in Dhemaji, Assam.
Yami is the lone one from Papum Pare district to clear the APPSCEE this time. She hails from Sonajuli in Banderdewa circle.
“Everyone looks for the results and no one actually sees the hard work put for it,” she said, adding that she looks forward to write the examination again and also prepare for the Union Public Service Commission exam. She said, “Civil services is not about study and academics, it’s about your involvement in the society”.
Another inspiring story comes from remote Monigong village in Shi-Yomi district. Yani Puning (APPSCCE rank 14) is the first lady circle officer from the district.
Puning did her BSc in agriculture and MSc in agronomy from Doon College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
In 2021, she faced the viva voce for the post of agriculture development officer but could not make it to the final list.
“I then started preparing earnestly for the APPSCCE from 2023 and this was my first attempt,” she informed.
“Coming from a remote village, Monigong, this achievement carries a lot of meaning. We have a handful of APCS officers from our entire district and all of them are males. So this achievement becomes even more special,” she said.
APPSCCE rank number 42 Yapi Loya cleared the examination in her second attempt. Earlier, she had cleared the mains and this time she cleared the interview as well.
Loya said: “The result is truly the culmination of years of hard work, perseverance, and unwavering faith in one’s capabilities, supported by constant motivation from both myself and my family. The feeling of accomplishment is both surreal and deeply humbling.”
Loya hails from West Siang district. She is a graduate in B Tech (computer science & engineering) from BVBCET, Hubli, Karnataka.
An example of government school product, Dr Osunam Borang, ranked 29, holds a degree in BHMS (bachelor of homeopathic medicine and surgery). She hails from Mebo village in East Siang district.
This was her second attempt at the APPSCCE. “The first attempt was in 2020, when I could not clear the mains stage,” she said.
When asked whether her hard work paid off, she said that there is no substitute for hard work. “Discipline, determination, perseverance and optimism have been the key factors that helped me conquer this long and challenging journey,” she said.
Among the two direct recruit female DSPs, Moni Bitin (ranked number 46) has a masters in agronomy-agriculture. She said technically this was her third attempt, but the first serious attempt.
She said she never thought of clearing the state’s civil services examination since she was an aspiring ADO aspirant.
She credited her success to her parents, saying it was their dream to see her become successful.
Bitin said that, for a couple of years, the APPSC fiasco had been a major cause of her mental health issue, saying the journey was a roller coaster ride.
“I took my spiritual and mental health along with the preparation and I am quite satisfied with the result,” she said. Bitin hails from Upper Siang district.
Specifically mentioning the APPSC fiasco, she said it had affected her personally in many ways, and added that “after the news of the paper leak, I was shattered, but later I decided to stand for the deprived aspirants.
Bitin was also involved with the Pan-Arunachal Joint Steering Committee, raising her voice against the anomalies in the ADO examination.
She said, “As time went by, I developed interest in preparing for the police service and started working on it.”
She said, “Women should not limit themselves just because of their gender. Joining the defence service for women’s inclusivity is the need of the hour.”
Tadar Sahi (ranked 2) said that the “only emotion I really felt was of relief, and later when I saw people around me being happy for me, I felt happiness. I was under a lot of pressure, mostly of my own creation, and the long years of preparation were weighing on me. I had been in continuous preparation for over a year before the APPSCCE-2024 notification came out, so I had hoped I would clear, and one always aims for the highest rank, but rank 2 is still a major shock.”
Sahi wrote the mains in APPSCCE 2020 as well, but didn’t get called for the viva voce. She said, “It was a disappointment like any failed attempt in any exam. One has to make peace and move ahead and prepare for the next.”
“There is no substitute for hard work, and what fascinates more is when you are able to clear the examination in the first attempt,” she said. Sahi was one of the leaders of the Pan-Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC) in protesting against the infamous APPSC job scam of 2022.
APPSCCE rank 19, Ibi Riso, from Pote village in Lower Siang district, began her journey towards the civil services in 2022, when she appeared for the assistant engineer examination. Riso is a graduate in civil engineering from UBDT College of Engineering, Davangere, Karnataka.
She initially thought of joining a preliminary course for AE examinations as it had a paper on general awareness. There were no plans to prepare for the civil services, she said.
After the paper leak scam, she was demotivated for some time.
“I only joined my mains coaching series so as to have something to look forward to in a day and not spiral down the road of anxiety and depression, and that is how my actual journey began in November 2022,” she said. “I attended every class diligently and while meandering through the course of my preparation, I actually got to know that I had all the necessary skill sets to at least give civil services a shot.”
“I love reading fiction since the sixth standard and I had always dreamt of becoming a writer someday, and since preparing for civil services requires a lot of reading and writing (albeit more academic in nature) it was almost like everything fell into a perfect place. That is how I really got indulged in the process of civil services preparation and the rest is history,” she recollected.
She said that the journey was neither easy nor a solo journey. She attributed her success to her parents for guiding her throughout the journey of the civil services. She also dedicated her success to her brothers Ibom Riso and Ikaar Riso for boosting her morale whenever she felt low.
“When I look back, my success was made possible only because I had the support of so many people, including a bit of good luck,” she said.
