Eyebrows were raised on Wednesday when the news of the swearing in of retired major general Ganesh Singh Bisht as member of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) started to come from the Raj Bhavan. This is a rare occasion when a non-APST outsider has been appointed as a member of the commission. The move has divided opinions of the people, at least on social media. A section of indigenous tribal Arunachalees is upset with the move and believes it is disrespectful to the people of the state.
However, the other section believes that this is the best option to clean up the mess surrounding the APPSC. They see Bisht as some kind of messiah and think that, being from a military background, he will help to bring about discipline in the commission. Therefore the expectation is quite high from the newest member of the APPSC. Over the years, the commission has come under heavy criticism for failing to conduct error-free civil service examinations. It is possible that this forced the state government to rethink and look for a newer idea. But there is no denying that the move is fraught with risk. The opening of APPSC membership for a non-APST can open the floodgates. There are possibilities that it may lead to a similar demand in other fields too. For now, everyone seems to be happy in the hope that the new APPSC member will bring the much-needed change in the work culture of the commission. Let’s hope he succeeds.