[ Amar Sangno ]
ITANAGAR, 23 Nov: In what could be termed one of the biggest en-masse termination letters ever issued by any department in the history of Arunachal’s administration, the education department recently issued termination letters to 255 illegal appointees.
The illegal appointees were PRTs, TGTs, UDCs, LDCs and MTSs who were illegally appointed since 2020, in violation of the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) Recruitment Rules, 2018.
Education Commissioner Amjad Tak informed that “termination orders were handed out to 255 illegal appointees after strict scrutinisation and following the codal procedures.”
He further informed that show cause notices had been issued to all the illegal appointees first, and the department issued the termination letters when they failed to reply satisfactorily.
“We did scrutiny at the departmental level, issued show cause notices to all, and the termination orders were issued after the lapse of the notice period,” said Tak.
On being contacted, Education Minister Taba Tedir affirmed that “the department is determined to take stringent action against illegal appointees and has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards any wrongdoers in the department.”
The minister said also that “backdoor illegal appointment has the potential to destroy the society.”
“Backdoor appointments are not just illegal but also have the potential to destroy the society through illegal means. Government is serious about taking action against such illegal appointments. Investigation is going on, and the officers responsible have been arrested,” Tedir said.
Surprisingly, the termination letters issued by the department has opened a Pandora’s Box of cases of illegal appointment in many districts which had earlier not been noticed by anyone.
Siang district topped the illegal appointments table with 102 illegal cases. Among them are 49 PRTs and 53 MTSs. Similarly, Anjaw has 26 cases (22 PRTs, 3 LDCs, 1 MTS), East Siang has 18 cases (6 PRTs, 1 LDC, 11 MTS), Kurung Kumey has six (4 PRTs, 1 LDC, 1 contingency peon), Longding has 10 such cases, followed by eight cases in Upper Subansiri district.
The matter of rampant illegal appointments was first brought up by Congress MLA Ninong Ering in the legislative assembly in March 2021. Ering had said that rampant appointments had been made in the education department, undermining the APSSB and in violation of all laid down norms of service, seniority guidelines, and the departmental promotion committee in an arbitrary manner.
Responding to Ering, Chief Minister Pema Khandu had asserted that strict action would be taken against corrupt officers who made illegal appointments after the constitution of the APSSB.
Later, the All Longding District Students’ Union in May 2023 raised the issue, claiming that 28 PRTs had been appointed in the district without floating any advertisement or conducting any interview. The union had said that the fraudulent appointments grossly undermined the laid down recruitment rules.
Arunachal Pradesh Youth Congress president Tarh Johny also filed an FIR against 28 PRTs who were allegedly appointed through fraudulent means by the then elementary education director. Under pressure, the state government gave approval to the vigilance department’s Special Investigation Cell (SIC) to probe into the cases in the education department in July 2023.
On 2 November, the elementary education directorate said that “no File No EED 2/872/APT 2019 exists in the department.”
It is alleged that rampant appointment orders for the posts of PRTs, TGTs, UDCs, LDCs and MTSs were issued, bearing the aforesaid file number.
The directorate had to clarify after it had been asked a specific question by the vigilance department. The elementary education director constituted a four-member committee, and confirmed that no such file exists or has been generated by the directorate till date.
The SIC had registered a regular case on 17 August, 2023, after several illegal appointment cases were reported from Changlang district.
A case has been registered at the SIC police station under Section 120 (B)/409/468/471 IPC, r/w Section 13 (2) of the PC Act, 1988.
So far the SIC has arrested three persons in connection with illegal appointments – two persons related to Longding district, and one from Anjaw. However, the SIC has been able to make little progress in the Changlang district illegal appointments case, and is apparently clueless about Siang district, which has the largest number of illegal appointees.
Many have alleged that the SIC is “making pick and choose arrest,” which is an allegation that the state’s premier investigating agency has denied.
