[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 27 Apr: The four-day mass casual leave availed by Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service (APCS) officers posted within and outside the state in protest against non-fulfillment of their demands, as well as against “undermining the interests of the APCS cadre by the state government,” entered its third day on Thursday.
The protest, being organised by the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service Officers Association (APCSOA), has paralysed the functioning of the government.
With the APCS officers not attending offices, the public are facing a difficult time in availing essential services like getting ST certificates, income certificates, preparing tender documents, and such.
“In this tussle between the state government and the APCSOA, the ordinary citizens are suffering. The state government should immediately engage in dialogue with the APCSOA and end this dispute at the earliest,” said a citizen.
The APCSOA took the decision to go on mass casual leave, claiming that they were left with no option after the state government failed to respond to their repeated pleas.
“We were already feeling neglected by the failure of the government to respond to our demands. But the final nail in the coffin came when non-APCS officer, Hano Taka, who was earlier holding charge as joint director in the IT department, was posted as director of the urban local body (ULB) department by transferring out senior APCS officer Mito Dirchi,” said a member of the APCSOA.
The APCS officers claimed that, by appointing a non-APCS officer as the ULB director, the state government breached the agreement reached in the meeting with Home Minister Bamang Felix.
“On 7 April, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the home minister. All the concerns raised by us were thoroughly discussed in the meeting. With regard to the posting of ULB director, it was assured to us that the home minister would discuss the matter with the chief minister and get back to us.
“Until then, Mito Dirchi was supposed to continue as director. However, all of a sudden, he was released and a new director also joined immediately. This has hurt us a lot as it shows lack of respect for our concern,” the member added.
Some of the other demands of the APCSOA are: review of hard and soft area categories for posting; creation of posts for the newly created administrative divisions and circles; posting of an APCS (EG) officer as undersecretary in the civil secretariat; posting of an APCS officer in the personnel department, etc.
The APCSOA also informed that the state government through a gazette notification in January 2019 created the post of the IT director for APCS officers.
“The present director is holding in-charge since 2017, after the previous director, who was an APCS officer, retired. Recently, a new director was posted, but surprisingly, the government kept the order in abeyance. We submitted several representations, but there is no outcome till now,” the member added.
The lack of assured growth is increasingly making the state’s elite service less attractive for the younger generation. “We were assured of regular conduct of DPC meeting every six months. The DPC for promotion to APCS (admin grade), APCS (selection grade) and APCS (senior grade) was held on 23 March, but the order for approval has not been issued till date.
“Even the process for induction into IAS takes an unnecessarily lengthy time in Arunachal in comparison to other states. Due to these factors, many youths prepare for other services in comparison to APCS,” said the APCSOA member.
The APCSOA members said they believe that early implementation of the Kaling Tayeng Committee report, formed for reformation of the APCS, would help make the service more attractive.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the government, responding to the demands of the APCSOA, in particular the one related to the posting of the ULB director, claimed that the government has not done anything wrong.
“ULB is a new department, and the previous directors were posted on an interim basis. This is a non-cadre post and therefore anyone filling the criteria can be posted as director. Hano Taka has fulfilled the criteria and therefore he has been posted as director,” the official said.
With the government not ready to accept the demands of the APCS officers, the tussle between the government and the APCSOA is expected to further escalate in the coming days.
