Editor,

On 9 September, 2026, the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC), through Advertisement No 06/2026, invited applications for four different posts, including 7 posts each for finance and accounts officer (FAO)/treasury officer (TO) and sub-treasury officer (STO).

Our concern is regarding the difference and apparent ambiguity in the educational qualification and eligibility conditions prescribed for these two posts. For the post of FAO, the prescribed educational qualification and eligibility condition states: "Bachelor degree in commerce/business administration/economics or bachelor degree in any discipline with statistics or mathematics as one of the subjects from a recognised university. However, a candidate possessing a bachelor's degree in any discipline must have studied either 'statistics' or 'mathematics' as a compulsory subject in all semesters/years during the course of the bachelor's degree."

For STO, the prescribed educational qualification and eligibility condition is altogether different, which is "bachelor degree in commerce/bachelor in business administration or bachelor degree in any discipline with economics and statistics as one of the subjects from a recognised university. However, the candidate possessing a bachelor's degree in any discipline must have studied either 'statistics' or 'economics' as a compulsory subject in all semesters/years during the course of the bachelor's degree."

From the above provisions, it can be observed that candidates with a mathematics background are eligible for the post of FAO, whereas they may not be eligible for the post of STO, despite mathematics being a closely related and relevant discipline to statistics and quantitative analysis.

This difference in the eligibility criteria appears vague and raises a genuine concern among aspirants from mathematics background. Both posts are under the same department and may involve overlapping or closely related administrative, financial, statistical, and quantitative responsibilities. So, what is the need to have different educational qualifications and eligibility conditions for these two posts?

Therefore, we, the aspirants from mathematics background, sincerely request the APPSC to kindly revisit the prescribed educational qualification and eligibility condition for the posts of FAO and STO, examine the apparent discrepancy, and take necessary corrective action, if deemed appropriate, so that eligible candidates from relevant academic backgrounds are not unnecessarily excluded from either post.

Aspiring candidates