ITANAGAR, Apr 11: In a response to the demands made by the All Yobin Students’ Union (AYSU) pertaining to disallowing participation of retired non-local Assam Rifles’ personnel in Panchayati Raj Institution in Vijoynagar circle under Changlang district, the All Settlers Welfare Association, Vijaynagar, Gorkha Development Society and Gorkha Youth Committee, Vijaynagar, have in a release on Wednesday, stated that there is a separate representation and voting in Panchayati system at Vijaynagar for the two groups (Ex-Assam Rifles settlers and Yobins) on the basis of geographical variations and ethnicity, except at the ZPM level.
The NGOs claimed that there is no competitiveness within the two groups in the grass root level. “As far as Panchayati Raj is concerned, it was already introduced in Vijaynagar since 1975.
Lal Bir Gurung, an Ex-Assam Rifles personnel was the first ASM or Panch Pradhan of Vijaynagar circle. He held the post of Panch Pradhan till 1980, thereafter Panchayati Raj system remained defunct in whole of Arunachal Pradesh.
Later, government of Arunachal Pradesh re-introduced a three-tier Panchayat in Arunachal in May, 2003 and subsequently at Vijaynagar with four anchal constituencies- two ASM seat each to Gorkha and Yobin community. And by 2013 Vijaynagar was declared as 8-Vijaynagar Block with ZPC and Anchal Chairperson, but proportion of grass root level for GPM’s remains unchanged i.e.15 and 23 respectively,” it added.
While strongly condemning the AYSU’s statement, the organizations further said that the union should not have ignored the historical background regarding the settlement scheme of the ex-army personnel in Vijaynagar in the 1960s and desist from misleading other unions and the state government.
