The Gauhati High Court has sought the Arunachal Pradesh government’s response to a PIL challenging its new recruitment policy that makes a Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC), Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) status and proficiency in an indigenous tribal language mandatory for government jobs.
Advocate General Chowdhury informed the court that the state government would file its response through an affidavit. No official response from the state government on the issues raised in the PIL was available at the time of filing this report. Reacting to the development, social activist and Arunachal Frontier Tribal Front (AFTF) chairman Tadak Nalo, in a social media post, claimed that non-APST petitioners from Lekang circle belonging to communities including Moran, Deori, Adivasi, Kachari and Tai Ahom had challenged the policy. He also sought clarity on the status of non-APST communities settled in Lekang.
They contended that the mandatory conditions dilute rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution and questioned the government’s power to impose such eligibility requirements through an executive instruction. The court directed the government to file the affidavit positively by the next date, November 5. The legal challenge comes weeks after the state Cabinet, headed by chief minister Pema Khandu, on August 13 approved uniform eligibility criteria for direct recruitment to Group A, B and C posts and equivalent positions across government departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies and local and urban bodies.
Nalo said his team would approach the advocate general and other authorities and take steps to safeguard what he described as indigenous tribal rights.
