[ Tadak Nalo ]
On 8 November, 2024, the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) issued a ‘corrigendum’, withdrawing 47 MTS (multitasking staff) posts and declaring the mentioned advertised vacancies as ‘nil’.
The look of it might fail to amuse; however, the intriguing aspect that jolted and staggered our logical senses lies in the comprehension of the entire story. Exactly 90 days or three months earlier, ie, on 8 August, the APSSB published an advertisement, bearing No APSSB/2/2024/1230, for the recruitment of Grade C posts for various departments against 452 vacancies. The examination for the same advertisement was slated to be conducted on 10 November.
To make the matter very clear, it is imperative to focus on the various important dates:
Date of advertisement: 8 August, 2024.
Corrigendum issued for the withdrawal of 47 MTS posts: 8 November, 2024.
Date of examination: 10 November, 2024.
It is pertinent to note that the advertisement inviting eligible applicants against 452 vacancies was left unaltered for 90 long days in the public domain, ie, from 8 August to 8 November. However, interestingly, just two days before the date of examination, ie, on 8 November, a corrigendum gets issued by the APSSB to withdraw 47 posts on intimation by the TRIHMS (Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences) and declare the vacancies ‘nil’.
Through this unusual and bizarre development, a Pandora’s Box seems to have been reopened all over again. The incident generated a series of unanswered questions:
- Why were the 47 MTS posts withdrawn in the eleventh hour, ie, just two days before the exam?
- Were the 47 MTS posts sold out before the examination process?
- Was an internal examination/recruitment process conducted by the TRIHMS to fill up the vacant 47 MTS posts by keeping the aspirants, APSSB and other stakeholders in the dark? (If so, then it’s a serious violation of the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board Act, 2018, as all the examinations for the recruitment of Grade C, Grade D and other lower posts are to be conducted by the APSSB only.)
- Did the TRIHMS fill up the advertised 47 MTS posts without any examination through backdoor technique?
- If there was no vacancy, why were the 47 MTS posts advertised as vacant and kept unaltered for 90 days?
- Why did TRIHMS take 90 long days to realise that the advertised 47 MTS posts were actually not vacant?
- Did TRIHMS use the 90 days’ window period to auction the 47 MTS posts for the best bidding price?
- Why did the APSSB entertain such intimation for the withdrawal of 47 MTS posts in the last few hours just before the examination?
- Is the recruiting institution legally empowered to withdraw the posts after they have been advertised?
- Have the APSSB and the TRIHMS executed the heist with complete collaboration and planning?
- What about the sanctity of the examination process? Are the remaining posts still valid for meritorious recruitment or are they also already compromised?
- What about the morale of the hardworking and honest aspirants who have toiled hard day in and day out in the process of preparation?
These are some of the questions that must have struck every aspirant, their parents, and every learned citizen of the state in the light of the head-scratching unfolding. However, as the symptoms are merely the indications of the underlying ailments, the strange episode seems to be only an indication of something fishy and deplorably dubious.
The abuse of official orders like ‘corrigendum’ or ‘addendum’ in the recruitment examinations conducted by the APPSC and the APSSB are nothing new. There are countless instances where posts/vacancies have been removed overnight at will before the examination processes through official orders, sometimes even through backdated mechanism. Moreover, the incident cannot be viewed from a unidimensional spectrum. There are more to consider than what our naked eyes can ever fathom.
The withdrawal of the 47 MTS posts also raises the alarm as to whether such episode is confined only to a particular department (TRIHMS in this case) or if it is also spread across various other departments. Moreover, the sanctity of the other remaining non-withdrawn posts also comes under the scanner. The recent infamous histories of both the APPSC and the APSSB have etched similar hallmarks that will remind the people that questions must continue to be asked.
After 90 long days since the advertisement and just two days before the examination process, a corrigendum is issued by the APSSB, withdrawing 47 MTS posts on intimation by the TRIHMS, and very interestingly, the withdrawal order came on 8 November (Friday), and the next day, 9 November, happened to be a second Saturday and hence no chance for complaint or protest as the office remained closed, and the following day, ie, 10 November, is the examination day. Everything perfectly executed, leaving no space for complaint, protest or petition.
Coincidence, pre-planned or blunder? Well, only time will tell. Nevertheless, it’s a classic case of a post withdrawal heist and remains a baffling mystery as the curious case of missing posts in APSSB examination. (The writer is chairman, Arunachal Frontier Tribal Front)
