PwD candidate alleges deprivation by Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission

A CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: One Mudang Yabyang has claimed that the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) has deliberately disqualified her in the viva test for the post of lecturer (Polytechnic College) by conducting an unfair viva interview.

Addressing the media at the press club on Saturday, Yabyang said that this happened only because she questioned the commission on not reserving posts for the person with disabilities (PwD) and pointing out the loopholes in the recruitment process.

Yabyang, who falls under the category of PwD, said that the commission advertised for 14 posts of lecturers in the year 2018 and surprisingly there was no post reserved for PwD. And after a long fight, she managed to convince the commission and Education Department to reserve posts for the PwD.

She said that accordingly with compliance with the Arunachal Pradesh Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2018 and information gathered from the commission through RTI, she managed to get three seats reserved for the PwD.

"Surprisingly, yet again the commission reduced the seat to 1 post. I qualified for the examination as per the required qualifications needed. I gave my best in writing but was disqualified in viva, claiming that I am not suitable for the post," she said.

She said that if only the viva marks are being considered for qualifications, the commission should have clearly mentioned it in the advertisement, unlike any other job recruitment notice. Moreover, the commission is not ready to provide the CCTV footage of viva and evaluation of the mark sheet of viva by each member.

"According to the RTI Act, every document should be provided unless it is harmful to any third party. And I don't see any harm to any third party in seeking my own documents," she said, adding that serious reforms are needed in the commission.

Yabyang said that the commission should have maintained separate minimum cut-off marks or qualifying marks for the PwD candidates as is being followed in UPSC and other State commission exams, especially for PwDs, STs, and SCs.

Therefore, she demanded that the State Government should appoint a separate state commissioner for PwD as per Arunachal Pradesh Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2018, along with her appointment as a lecturer, upholding the privileges, rights, and relaxation of PwD in the examination without compromise and roster rule should be strictly maintained by all concerned department.

Meanwhile, one Hage Butung has appealed to the AAPSU and unions working for the welfare of PwD to cooperate in the matter and accordingly help in delivering justice to Yabyang.

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