Dear Editor,
Arunachal Pradesh is considered to be the nature’s treasure trove and is home to major centre of biodiversity. In fact, in true sense it is considered the cradle of an array of fruits, vegetable, ornamental plants & also medicinal-aromatic plants. From generation to generation our ancestors have been using indigenous crop in their cuisine as well as for medicinal purpose. With the mind set to increase the production of horticulture produce and to boost the income of farmers, the Horticulture Dept. was bifurcated from Agriculture Dept. There were 86 posts of Horticulture Development Officers at the time of bifurcation and there has not been any increase in the no. of posts since then. Agriculture & Horticulture is one of the preferred subject of graduation after medical and engineering, so the number of students that graduate with horticulture degree get increased with every passing year without any increase in the numbers of HDO which further has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of unemployed horticulture graduates.
This has been overlooked by our State Govt. even though separate department has been created. So, AAHSU came into action and decided to fight for their rights. They started by approaching the concerned officials of Directorate of Horticulture explaining the grievances of the unemployment graduates and requested them to increase the number of advertised posts but their response was not of much help. Then when we tried to get the number of vacant posts & the requisite number of HDOs, it was found that due to absence of a full fledged Director for long intervals, conduct of Departmental Promotional Committee could not be done by the Dept for a long time.
While we were still trying to sort out the above mentioned problems, unfortunately the notification for recruitment of HDO dates was declared. So, left with no other option, unwillingly it was decided by mass to not attend the exam until our genuine demands are met.
On 19th of April, we staged a dharna outside the APPSC building as our examination centre was in the APPSC examination hall. The intention of the dharna wasn’t to tarnish the image of APCS or to question the credibility of APPSC. The sole purpose of the cancellation was to bring to limelight the grievances of the horticulture students.
Reasons for not writing the exam:
1. Immediate creation of Horticulture development officers in each block, as most of the blocks are lacking requisite number of officers in both existing as well as newly formed districts.
2. Appointment of a full time Director. The department is functioning without a Director since last November. This is hampering the progress of official work.
3. Addition of 3 more posts with the advertised post.
Yours,
A student