The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, has approved uniform eligibility criteria for direct recruitment through competitive examinations to all Group A, B and C services/posts under the Arunachal Pradesh government.
The criteria will apply to posts under state government departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies and local/urban bodies, among others. The new eligibility provisions will apply with immediate effect to all relevant Recruitment Rules/Service Rules for Group A, B and C posts and their equivalents.
Under the new criteria, every candidate seeking direct recruitment must fulfil three mandatory conditions: possess a valid permanent residence certificate (PRC), an Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) certificate, and proficiency in any language from the notified list of indigenous tribal languages of Arunachal. Candidates must also be Indian citizens and inhabitants of Arunachal.
The Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) and the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) have been directed to include these eligibility conditions, along with the post-joining language test mechanism, in all future recruitment advertisements and rules.
The Cabinet decision is significant as the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) and the Arunachal Frontier Tribal Front (AFTF) had been threatening mass movements, demanding the scrapping of the 80:20 recruitment policy, which reserves 20% of state government jobs for non-residents. Both groups have been demanding 100% reservation for indigenous youth in state government jobs.
The AAPSU had also demanded that PRC, APST status and local dialect fluency be made mandatory for state government jobs, while AFTF had demanded that APST and PRC certificates be made mandatory prerequisites for major examinations conducted by the APPSC and the APSSB.
The latest position of the government has addressed some of the key concerns raised by the student groups and may help prevent the situation from escalating into chaos, particularly in view of the large-scale participation witnessed in the rallies.
