Arunachal Joint Steering Committee accuses state government of not fulfilling demands on APPSC paper leak scam

The Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC) on August 11 hit out at the state government, accusing it of not being serious about fulfilling the 13 demands placed by the committee.

During a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club here, PAJSC vice chairman Tadak Nalo said that they had high expectations from the government, particularly Chief Minister Pema Khandu that their demands would be fulfilled. 

“During a meeting on February 18 this year all of our 13 demands were addressed. The CM had personally assured us that all the demands would be fulfilled slowly. We do agree on the initiative the government has taken with regard to certain demands, and we appreciate it. But the majority of demands have not been fulfilled till now,'' Nalo added. 

Commenting on the ongoing investigation, the government stated that the case has been endorsed to CBI, ED, and court-monitored probe, the latter is yet to be realized. 
''None other than the prime accused Taket Jerang has been arrested. There is no concrete development on the outcome of the investigation by the ED and demanded that ED should update on the progress made so far,'' Nalo added.

Nalo said that though the District and Sessions Court, Yupia which has been designated as the special fast track court to hear the case of APPSC cash for job scam case, is already overburdened by various cases.

On the state government’s claim about various departmental inquiry reports initiated against various officials involved in the APPSC paper leak scam, the Committee expressed dissatisfaction saying that the termination process of Taket Jerang itself has not been started yet and that none of the brokers has been dismissed so far.

Regarding disclosure of the three-member committee report, the PAJSC criticized that the report only deals with procedural lapses and SoP violations but does not mention the names of the officers involved in it. 

''Not all examinations alleged to be involved with the scam have been scrutinized,'' PAJSC said.

The PAJSC also demanded the constitution of the new APPSC body, saying it cannot be kept defunct so that the pending examinations can be conducted at the earliest.

''The CBI investigation has been opaque and the number of arrests is negligible without any concrete outcome to date. The chargesheets filed by the CBI are inadequate and lack substance to justify the gravity of the case,'' PAJSC maintained.

The PAJSC further requested the Chief Minister to stand by his commitment regarding the demand of null and void declaration of any examination found to be involved with malpractice. 

''The commission is already functioning with several other officials authorized to discharge the necessary duties and the required initiatives should be filled without any delay,'' it suggested.

Informing that it would stage a dharna on August 16, the PAJSC declared that it would also go for a civil disobedience movement to press for its charter of demands.

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