Guwahati: Days after protesters called off their agitation against the Arunachal paper leak, a group of officers impacted by the aspirants’ demand for declaring the exams conducted by the APPSC ‘null and void’ appealed to the state government not to be “swayed by the overwhelming public opinion.”
On February 19, the Arunachal Pradesh government agreed to the 13-point demands of the Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC), fighting the paper leak issue of the state public service commission.
The development came after two days of unrest in the state capital over the lack of adequate action against those involved in the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) cash-for-job scam.
In a press statement, the affected officers, under the banner of The Joint Committee Against Null and Void Demand, said they intend to “secure indemnity for the innocent government employees and officers who have been recruited by virtue of their hard work and competence.”
“under the purview of null and void, three (03) Combined Competitive Examinations fall, viz; 2014, 2017 and 2021 besides exams for Doctors, Teachers, Police, Engineers, Agriculture Development Officers, Horticulture Development Officers, Assistant Conservators of Forest, Range Forest Officers, AMDOs, ASOs and many more, accounting for over 2000 govt employees, who have been earnestly rendering public services in various parts of the state stand to lose their job, severely disrupt the functioning of the government set up,” the press release said.
“We reiterate that we strongly oppose the demand for ‘null and void’ put forward by the PAJSC, which the government has agreed to send to the APPSC. The only way that justice can be done to all deserving candidates is by allowing the investigation process to complete,” the press statement added.
The officers said the government’s handing over of the decision to the APPSC “has severely disrupted the functioning of the government setup.
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“We reiterate that we strongly oppose the demand for ‘null and void’ put forward by the PAJSC, which the government has agreed to send to the APPSC. The only way that justice can be done to all deserving candidates is by allowing the investigation process to complete,” the press statement added.
The officers said the government’s handing over of the decision to the APPSC “has severely disrupted the functioning of the government setup.”
The affected officers believe “painting entire batches in the same colour would be a travesty of the principles of natural justice,” and called for “speeding up the arrests of the guilty, cleaning up the system, and ensuring prompt and transparent investigation to resolve the crisis.”
Citing the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case of Joginder Pal vs the State of Punjab, 2014, officers further warned of setting a wrong trend if the government ‘succumbed; to the null and void demand.
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