[ Tadak Nalo ]
“As soon as I saw the questions, I forgot how to write. My whole body was trembling and my senses went numb as I couldn’t believe my eyes. The questions given to me by Akhilesh Yadav (Jeju Institute teacher) came in the exams absolutely in identical form, without any variation, neither in the parameters nor in the pattern.”
Thus, the Pandora’s Box was thrown wide open. The five questions in the AE (civil) examination, 2022 opened up the decaying recruitment system in the state’s highest recruiting institution, the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC).
29 August, 2022 is the day when the state’s most deep-rooted scam was brought before the public domain by the state’s first whistleblower, Gyamar Padang. Nine months later, on 3 May, 2023, our hero breathed his last at the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad, embattling a prolonged illness.
The APPSC paper leak scam shook the whole of Arunachal to the core. We were awakened by a devastating reality. The dreadful buying and selling of the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Arunachal’s future were decided, directed and executed within the autonomous walls of the state’s highest recruiting institution.
The scam exposed in one examination [ie, AE (civil) 2022] branched out across various multiple examinations over the years. The roots of the scandal connected Taket Jerang (former deputy decretary, APPSC) to numerous brokers/middlemen and reached out to many more buyers.
The dreadful unfolding of the skeletons urgently demanded a decisive overhauling. The process of overhauling had to start with the investigation process, then the curative aspects, and lastly the reformative measures.
The investigation process initially started by the SIC (Special Investigation Cell), renamed as ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau), was taken over by the CBI on popular demand of the people and parallelly investigated by the ED (Enforcement Directorate). However, since the day the CBI and the ED took over the investigation of the APPSC paper leak scam in the month of January, 2023, neither an individual has been arrested nor the chargesheet of the already arrested individuals have been completed.
As far as the curative aspects are concerned, only the officers/officials on probation have been terminated/dismissed. However, the actual culpritsstill have not been terminated/dismissed. Instead, many of the officers/officials, especially from the Education Department, were reportedly reinstated due to procedural lapses in the departmental inquiries.
The prime accused, Taket Jerang, was awarded forced retirement by the state government with all the post-retirement benefits. It is a shocking revelation that despite being arrested for almost three years, the departmental proceedings against him are still incomplete. One can only imagine the deplorable condition of the departmental proceedings of the remaining accused. The million-dollar question is,how come the accused involved in the APPSC paper leak scam are still not dismissed/terminated.
Shockingly, the trial processes of the accused have not even started, which means the assurance of a fast-track court was a complete eye-wash before the people of Arunachal Pradesh. Finally, the reformative measures need to be introspected. The Whistle Blower Act has not been enacted, the half-baked ‘The Arunachal Pradesh Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2024’ was given to the people of the state, and many other important reformative measures have not been initiated. Moreover, the demand for the ‘Statue of Honesty’, which was also the final will of our beloved hero, has fallen on deaf ears.
In conclusion, the CBI and the ED, the premier investigation agencies of the country, remarkably failed the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the ongoing APPSC paper leak scam. We do not know if the real CBI and ED came to our state. Not even a single individual has been arrested by either of the agencies since their takeovers of the case, and the chargesheets of the already arrested are prepared haphazardly or left incomplete, because of which many of the arrested accused have attained default bails.
Most interestingly, the trial process of any of the accused involved in the APPSC paper leak scam has not even started, more than two years since their taking over the case.
Secondly, the tainted officers/officials found involved in the scam, instead of being terminated/dismissed, are getting reinstated. The departmental proceedings of the accused have not even completed and wherever the proceedings were taken up, they were mired with procedural lapses and inconsistencies.
Furthermore, the Whistle Blower Act and the Statue of Honesty in the memory of our beloved hero, late Gyamar Padang, despite being the consistent overwhelming cries of every Arunachali, have been abandoned and left completely left in the cold. In addition, still a long list of promises of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh is awaiting immediate attention of the authority concerned.
On 3 May, 2025, as we observe the second death anniversary of our hero, his final words, “Marne se bhi aatma ko shanti nahin milega, agar APPSC paper leak scam resolve nahin hua toh” echo far and wide, striking the core of every soul with a conscience and then transcending through time, from the present generation to the next.
These words are reminders of our journey, and that we have miles to go before we rest. (The contributor is chairman of the Arunachal Frontier Tribal Front)
