[Bengia Ajum]
PASIGHAT, 15 Dec: The Adi Bane Kebang Youth Wing (ABKYW) has threatened to lock down the campuses of the College of Horticulture & Forestry (CHF) and the College of Agriculture (CoA) here in East Siang district if the authorities fail to fulfill the four demands placed by the organisation.
The ABKYW is seeking 80 per cent reservation for Arunachal Pradesh Schedule Tribes (APST) in Group A and B posts; 100 per cent reservation for APSTs, “with preference given to the local areas’ unemployed youths,” in Groups C and D posts; initiating the recruitment process for the vacant posts in the CHF and the CoA; and “reservation of 50 per cent of the seats of intake capacity for the APST students.”
The ABKYW has been conducting dharnas and protests, seeking fulfilment of its demands, but the authorities are reportedly not responding properly to its demands.
“We have been writing to them since January this year. Also, we met the VC of the Central Agriculture University (CAU) in April regarding our demands. The CAU replied only on the 10th of this month, with an offer of reservation only in Group D, and the offer is also not definitive,” APKYW president Oki Dai said.
At present, in the CHF, out of 48 Group A and B employees, there are only two APST employees, and out of 108 staffers in Group C and D posts, 46 are APSTs. The CHF and the CoA are affiliated to the CAU, based in Imphal, Manipur.
“The recruitment is mostly conducted in Imphal, and therefore the majority of the employees here are Manipuris. The recruitment process for CoA is going to start soon, and we fear that the same thing will be repeated. But this time we will not accept the decision imposed from Imphal,” added Dai.
The CHF was established in 2001. The locals donated land free of cost for the establishment of the college. In January this year, the CoA was formally inaugurated by the then union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
Meanwhile, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of local MLA Kaling Moyong on Wednesday to look into the demands placed by the ABKYW. The deans of the CHF and the CoA, besides representative of the ABKYW, and East Siang DC Tayi Taggu were present at the meeting.
The ABKYW’s ’employment issue’ chairman Gige Pertin highlighted its charter of demands, and sought a meeting with the CAU vice chancellor “for fruitful resolution of the issue.” The same demand was reiterated by ’employment issue’ vice president Thomas Ering and the ZPMs of Boggong-I and Boggong-II.
The DC requested the representatives of the ABKYW to “resolve the issue through negotiation, as a lockdown would be detrimental to everyone’s interest.” He informed that he has discussed the issue with the deans of the two institutes, “and they are actively pursuing their higher authority to resolve the issue.”
The MLA on his part said, “Even though unemployment is a sentimental issue, it should be resolved peacefully, as any violence would set a wrong image for the entire district, which would further affect the development works in the district.”
He requested the ABKYW representatives to defer the lockdown of the institutes, and urged the deans to “speed up the meeting with the CAU VC and registrar for peaceful resolution of the issue at hand.”
The participants unanimously appealed to the CAU VC to come to Pasighat, preferably within a week, and take up the issue immediately.
“We have decided to wait till the 20th of this month and, if there is no response, will start a lockdown of the institutes,” said Dai.
