Itanagar: Reiterating his government’s zero tolerance against corruption, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday told the Assembly that those found involved in the dishonest practices are being taken to task.
“Despite our all-out efforts to bring development in Arunachal for its people, there still remains corruption somewhere in the system. It’s imperative to cleanse the filth to take our state ahead on the path to development,” Khandu said while participating in the Budget discussion in the House.
Referring to the APPSC fiasco, he said, “It was very unfortunate and totally inhumane that they, being the state’s premier recruiting agency, played a dirty game with the future of Arunachal. We could not ever imagine that such a thing would happen with our young generations.”
“The moment the information reached us, we started taking action. First, we gave the matter to SIC and then to the CBI, as per people’s demand, for a fair and transparent investigation, and the investigation by the central probe agency is on.”
Till date, a total of 54 individuals, including 42 government employees, have been arrested for their alleged involvement, he said, while informing that the process for their termination, as per CCS rules, has already started and those found guilty would be terminated “very soon”.
Khandu said, “As per people’s wish that hearing of this case to be conducted through a fast track court, the State Govt has written a letter to the Gauhati High Court and I must thank the HC that it
has designated the District and Sessions Court, Yupia as the Special court to conduct hearings on the APPSC matter in a fast-track manner.”
Further, as demanded by aggrieved aspirants to probe the ‘paper selling’ matter, he said the State Govt, leaving no stone unturned, wrote to the ED (Enforcement Directorate) and invited them to conduct the inquiry.
He also told the House that there were 11 exams in which arrests have been made on allegations of malpractices. Moreover, as requested by aggrieved candidates that Govt recommend the UPSC to conduct the pending exams, stating that they have lost their faith in APPSC, Khandu said as per constitutional provisions, the Union Public Service Commission can conduct the pending exams.
“As per Article 315(4), the Governor will write to UPSC and if they want to conduct the exam they will seek permission from the President of India. For this, we have already started the process and the Cabinet has approved the file, which has been sent to the Governor and the same has come back to us. The letter would be sent to the UPSC in a day or two,” he disclosed while making it clear that “if the UPSC refuses to conduct the exams then there will be no option left but to constitute the State Public Service Commission”.
Another burning topic doing the rounds is that of ‘null and void’ demand, Khandu said, in the minute of meeting he had with the aspirants’ body PAJSC on February 18, “it is clearly written that the State Govt has seen the request for declaring the exams as null and void where issues and malpractices like paper leakage were have come to notice. Accordingly, it is being sent to APPSC which is the competent authority to decide on this.”
Amid the prevailing confusions regarding the null and void matter, Khandu said, “First we have to see what step does the UPSC take – if it agrees to conduct exams then the State Public Service Commission is not going to form very soon, and if it denies, we have to form the APPSC first and then we will forward the null and void matter to the Commission to decide on.”
Expressing his umbrage over the ‘bandh culture’, the CM said, “We should throw away the dharna, bandh culture from our brains.” Instead of fighting within ourselves and without further losing our precious time, we must find a solution, he added while pointing that the aspirants have already lost six months since the issue came to light.
After the formation of the Commission, said Khandu, let them use their expertise to examine the matter. Stating that Govt is closely monitoring the issue, the CM said, “I assure the House and the people of Arunachal Pradesh that we will find a logical conclusion to this issue as soon as possible.”
