Letters to the Editor: Serious reforms needed in APSC

Serious reforms needed in APSC

Through your esteemed daily, I represent the many aspirants who look to crack the various A-grade and B-grade examinations conducted by APSC. APSC has stopped releasing the tentative examination calendar after 2023, which it couldn't adhere to due to general elections. Now, APSC should create the calendar in a way that ensures the conduct of the examinations does not conflict with the model code of conduct. As a result, many examinations had to be postponed from their originally scheduled dates or months. Soon after the fiasco, APSC stopped releasing the calendars, thus causing a lot of confusion and anxiety among the aspirants, especially the ones who are working professionals or have a family and so have to plan accordingly many months prior.

Now, UPSC and many Public Service Commissions (PSCs), including APPSC, release tentative examination calendars or at least provide the probable months for civil services examinations.

APSC should consolidate the data after consulting with the Department of Personnel and various other departments (for departmental exams) and then release a tentative annual calendar, while also considering the election schedule.

Large-scale anomalies were observed in the OBC and Tea Tribe vacancy posts for ADRE 2.0 and MBBS admissions, where candidates from UP/Bihar and other regions falsely benefited due to similarities in surnames, residence in Tea Garden areas, or other unethical practices. A similar issue has happened with the APSC CCE 2024 results, where an earlier final result was withdrawn due to an inadvertent error and then reissued. However, some doubts remain because individuals with the 'Yadav' surname are receiving OBC reservations, despite the fact that the 'Yadav' community is not listed as OBC in Assam. Therefore, APSC should form a committee to rigorously and strictly verify caste certificates before issuing appointment letters and take strict action against anyone found using unscrupulous means. No Assamese, even after staying for a second generation in the state, gets any reservation benefit, whereas there is a regular addition to the OBC and SC community list of Assam. ASPC, being the premier examination body, should lead by example against such malpractices.

Aspirants of Assam

(borarobin20@gmail.com)

Medicinal

plants and NE

The editorial 'Protecting medicinal plants and their knowledge in NE', published in your esteemed daily on March 3, has rightly highlighted that the biodiversity hotspot in the northeast has a large number of powerful and sustainable medicinal and aromatic plants, which are mostly beneficial to humankind. Different chemical substances inside the medicinal plants produce a particular physiological action on the human body. Chemical compounds present inside the medicinal plants are phenolics, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, etc. A significant number of medicinal plants are found in northeastern states, namely Tripura, Mizoram, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. Medicinal plants play a significant role in the treatment of malaria and other chronic diseases. Patients with serious issues like AIDS or cancer should be told about the benefits of using medicinal plants for treatment. Trained physicians cannot ignore the use of herbal medicines. These days we quite often find that a large number of patients are using the herbal medicines. What is important is that the patients and the physician should enter into a discussion and compare the efficacy of herbal medicines over pharmaceutical drugs.

A pragmatic approach would involve the commercial cultivation and conservation of such plants in the region. We therefore urgently need to increase budget allocation for biodiversity registers, build awareness, and strengthen research on medicinal plants and traditional knowledge in every state capital of the region on a priority basis, without which our key area of concern will remain unsolved.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati

Public memory

It is often said that public memory is short. In many past instances, it has been demonstrated that public memory can be both short and, at times, surprisingly long.

Very shortly Assam will be going to the poll, and the memory of the electors of Assam will be tested. It will be a litmus test of the public memory of the electors of Assam.

Let us hope and pray that the public memory of the electors of Assam is neither short nor long. It is right.

Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.