Itanagar: The dawn-to-dusk capital bandh called by the ‘public’ against the scheduled oath-taking of the new APPSC chairman and members witnessed several people taking to the streets of Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) on Friday.
The streets of ICR, which consists of Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa, wore a deserted look throughout the day as all business establishments and most government offices remained closed.
Thousands gathered at the intersection leading to Raj Bhawan here and have been sloganeering against the government since 5 am.
Besides demanding the cancellation of the oath-taking ceremony, the people (aspirants) have also been demanding the fulfilment of the 13-point charter of demands of the Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC).
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PAJSC is an organisation of aggrieved aspirants that has been spearheading the movement in the state against the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) paper leak case.
According to the PAJSC, “the Arunachal government has a hidden agenda in appointing Lieutenant General (Retd) Shantanu Dayal as the APPSC chairman”. They have questioned the credibility of screening the committee of APPSC for appointing one Rosy Taba as a commission member.
Meanwhile, sources in the government said that the proposed swearing-in ceremony of the new APPSC chairman and members has been called off.
The cabinet took the decision via a virtual meeting. The protestors were demanding the same in writing at the time of filing this report.
This is a developing story.
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