Editor,
I wish to pen down the plight of a generation of aspirants whose precious years were consumed by examination controversies, paper leak scandals and uncertainty surrounding the recruitment system.
The pre-2021 period witnessed serious questions about the integrity of competitive examinations in the state, including the hunger strike episodes, Kapter and Taket controversies. Subsequently, the APPSCCE and the APSSB examination processes have continued to shape the hopes and aspirations of thousands of young people seeking a fair opportunity to enter public service.
For many candidates, however, these years were not merely a period of examination preparation. They were years of sacrifice, anxiety, postponed family responsibilities and uncertain futures. Aspirants invested their youth in the belief that hard work and merit would eventually lead to success. Many spent their savings on books, coaching and repeated attempts, while others put their personal ambitions and family commitments on hold.
But what happens when the very system entrusted with rewarding merit becomes a source of uncertainty? Who accounts for the years lost? Who acknowledges the emotional burden carried by candidates who prepared sincerely but found their efforts overshadowed by allegations of malpractice and institutional failures?
The pain is particularly acute for those who have crossed their most productive years waiting for a fair opportunity. Age limits, financial pressures, family responsibilities and diminishing employment prospects do not wait for investigations to conclude. While institutions may move forward after corrective measures, the lost time of an aspirant cannot simply be restored.
The question is not whether every unsuccessful candidate should be guaranteed a government job. No such entitlement can replace a fair selection process. The fundamental demand is simpler: every candidate deserves a recruitment system in which merit is protected, rules are enforced equally and institutional failures are not forgotten.
Arunachal Pradesh cannot afford to lose the faith of an entire generation in public recruitment. The aspirations of its youths are not disposable, and their years of preparation should not be reduced to footnotes in the history of examination scandals.
The examinations may be over, investigations may have progressed and new recruitment cycles may have begun. But for many aspirants, the wound remains unhealed.
Who will acknowledge their lost years? Who will answer for the opportunities they may never recover? And what concrete assurance can the state offer that the next generation will not inherit the same uncertainty? These are questions that deserve more than silence. They deserve institutional accountability, meaningful reform and a sincere recognition of the human cost borne by Arunachal's aspirants.
An overaged aspirant