Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 26 Sep: The members of the Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC) started a three-day dharna from Tuesday to protest the state government’s handling of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) paper leak scam.
The PAJSC members said that the state government has not been sincere with regard to the committee’s 13 demands, despite the written assurance given to it.
“Whatever outcome should have been, despite written assurance, the government hasn’t stood by it commitments. We have been left with no choice but to stage a dharna,” said PAJSC vice chairman Tadak Nalo in an interview with a local digital channel.
“We don’t say that the state government didn’t do anything, but the outcome is not as satisfactory as we have been demanding, and the government hasn’t stood by its commitment” Nalo added.
He further claimed that the government had assured the PAJSC members that compensation would be provided to all the protestors who were injured on 18 February. “However, none of the injured protestors has been compensated yet,” he said.
Nalo appealed to the people of Arunachal to join their protest. “We are here for the future of everyone, especially the young generation. So I appeal to the people of our state, especially those in the capital region, to join in our dharna,” he said.
The PAJSC members also demanded revocation of all the cases that were registered against them at different police stations during the bandh, and sought “immediate revocation of PAJSC chairman Techi Puru’s suspension order.”
On late Gyamar Padang’s ‘statue of honesty’ demand, Nalo said that “the statue of honesty is the least the state government can do to honour late Gyamar Padang’s contribution in exposing the mega cash-for-job scam.”
“Since the state government is here for the interests of the people of the state, our demand is for the interest of the people. Our demands are nothing new. We hope the government will address it,” he reiterated.
The state was left shocked by the question paper leak scam which came to light after whistleblower late Gyamar Padung, a candidate for the APPSC assistant engineer (civil) examination, filed a police complaint on 29 August last year, stating that he suspected that the examination paper had been leaked.
After a series of protests across the state, the case was transferred to the Special Investigation Cell, and then to the CBI. A total of 46 people, including 39 government officials and employees, have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in the scam.
However, ever since the CBI took over the case in October last year, the investigation seems to be in cold storage.
