Editor,
The Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) is facing a moment of reckoning. The handling of the Arunachal Engineering Services Examination (AESE-2025) has rattled the confidence of candidates and shaken public trust in an institution meant to safeguard merit and fairness.
The facts are plain. The shortlist for assistant engineer (civil), declared on 30 July, was riddled with irregularities – premature departmental segregation, the arbitrary exclusion of over 800 eligible aspirants, duplication of roll numbers, and a blatant violation of the mandatory 1:12 shortlisting ratio. These are not clerical errors; they are systemic failures. When such lapses occur in a constitutional body entrusted with selecting future engineers of the state, the very foundation of public recruitment is undermined.
The Gauhati High Court on 3 September was compelled to intervene, recognizing the injustice and directing corrective measures. But let us be clear: the commission should never have allowed matters to deteriorate this far. The APPSC ought to have acted suo motu, rectifying its mistakes swiftly and transparently. Instead, it dragged the issue into court, prolonging uncertainty for candidates and exposing its own lack of accountability.
Now, under judicial pressure, the commission has agreed to include the excluded candidates and rescheduled the mains to 28-29 September. Yet even this ‘correction’ is incomplete. Candidates shortlisted in July have enjoyed nearly two months of preparation, while those belatedly added now have less than three weeks. This is not equality of arms; it is a new form of disadvantage. Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done.
If the APPSC and the state government are serious about fairness, they must go beyond token inclusion. A short postponement of the mains would ensure that every candidate enters the examination hall on equal footing. Anything less will invite further legal battles, erode confidence in the process, and deepen the perception that meritocracy in Arunachal Pradesh is negotiable.
Recruitment examinations are not bureaucratic rituals. They decide careers, shape the quality of governance, and reflect the values of a state that aspires to progress. At this critical juncture, the commission and the government must rise above expediency and act with statesmanship.
The people of Arunachal deserve a clear message: opportunity is never rationed, fairness is never compromised, and every deserving candidate will be allowed to compete on equal terms. That is the only way to restore faith in the commission and uphold the dignity of public service recruitment.
Likha Tani