ITANAGAR, 14 Oct: Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) chairman Nipo Nabam resigned from his post on Friday, “owning moral responsibility for the omissions and commissions of the officer of the commission” who was responsible for ensuring secrecy and prevention of leakage of question papers.
“In the matter of the unpleasant APPSC fiasco perpetrated by an officer of the Arunachal Public Service Commission on the infamous paper leakage of the written examination (mains) for the post of assistant engineer (civil) of 27th & 28th August, 2022, I being the head of the commission, feel it prudent and rationale to put in my papers on moral grounds,” Nabam stated in his resignation letter to the governor.
“With the recent emerging police/SIC investigations, down the line, an officer of the commission is found to be involved. It is pertinent to mention here that, as per the manual for the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission Conduct of Examination Guidelines, 2017, and the standard operating procedure for ensuring secrecy and prevention of leakage of question papers till it is handed over to the examinees, is the domain of the controller/deputy/assistant controller of examination, and as such, the chairman or the members of the commission have no direct handling role,” he said.
“I have put in my papers to the honourable governor of Arunachal Pradesh, owning moral responsibility for the omissions and commissions of the officer of the commission, by instantly acting on the advice of the Nyishi Elite Society (NES).
I have specifically implored upon the governor to accept my resignation forthwith and deemed to have demitted my position as the chairman of the state public service commission,” he added.
Nabam said that, “at the initial stage, when prima facie involvement of my officer discerned, I thought of doing the same on moral ground, but then the institution of the constitutional body – the public service commission – as enshrined under Article 315 of the Constitution of this great nation requires due acknowledgement and its safeguard, akin to the other constitutional institutions like legislature, executive, judiciary and other commissions and committees.
“Therefore, it is also duty bound for me to protect the constitutional institution of the state public service commission. But I reckoned that, with the wisdom of the NES that the lengthy procedural battle codified under Article 317, requiring governor’s recommendations, presidential reference to the Supreme Court and under the provisions of Article 145, is going to cost much to our upcoming younger generations, especially on the issue of age overrun to face competitive examinations, which may cause frustration in the younger generations vis-à-vis the urgent need to recruit officers and officials to man the state and more particularly, the urgent need for recruitment of hundreds of teachers for our students – the future of the state and the nation,” he said.
“I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the state government and to all sundry for their cooperation during my stint as a member of the commission from 2014 and as the chairman of the commission from 2018 and pinned hope that my pet project – the c/o the APPSC building – shall be commissioned on time,” Nabam said.
