Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 13 Aug: Accusing the Raj Bhavan of indulging in corrupt practice by making appointments to various secretariat staff posts, including the post of the assistant protocol officer, “flouting the state’s recruitment rules,” the Save Arunachal Movement (SAM) on Saturday reiterated its demand for immediate job termination of “three illegal appointments made in the Raj Bhavan secretariat.”
In a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club, SAM general secretary Tami Pangu claimed that the Raj Bhavan flouted the recruitment rules by appointing secretariat staffers “without proper advertisement and recruitment procedures.”
“Through RTI, it revealed that the governor himself had pressurised for creation of post and subsequently got cabinet approval. The recruitment did not follow the existing rules and moreover, 80:20 ratio of job reservation for APST and non-APST candidates,” Pangu said.
He further claimed that the governor “has abused and misused his power and
the constitutional post by recruiting the various posts without consulting the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) and the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC).”
It is learnt that recruitment for three posts – protocol assistant (Group B non-gazetted), private secretary/OSD and a videographer – was done by the Raj Bhavan.
“The appointment did not follow any recruitment procedures laid down for filling up of newly created posts and proper advertisement was flouted, as well,” Pangu alleged.
“The governor is a constitutional head. If the governor himself is violating and undermining the rules, who should we approach?” he said.
The SAM also questioned the role of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) Vice Chancellor Prof Saket Kushwaha in the recruitment of the Raj Bhavan secretariat staffers.
“Is RGU mandated to hold recruitment of governor secretariat staff?” he questioned.
The SAM claimed that RGU refused to provide the details to one of its activists, stating that the queries were “purely personal and invasive in nature, having no public interest involved in it. As such, the same is exempted u/s 8 (1) (J) of the RTI Act and cannot be disclosed.”
The SAM also condemned the state government “for giving relaxation to Raj Bhavan for recruiting its secretariat staff after introducing APSSB and APPSC through legislation.”
It demanded “immediate cancellation of all three posts and conducting re-examination through proper recruitment procedures.”
