Staff Reporter

ITANAGAR : Thousands of people from various walks of life on Saturday participated in the mass “referendum” rally organized by the Arunachal Frontier Tribal Forum (AFTF) here, reiterating demands for immediate scrapping of the existing 80:20 reservation ratio in recruitment conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) and Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB), and making APST and Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) mandatory for all applicants to state government jobs.

More than 38 organizations participated in the rally, which commenced from Akashdeep and culminated at IG Park, Itanagar. The participants carried banners and placards and raised slogans demanding abolition of the 80:20 reservation policy.

Addressing reporters, AFTF chairman Tadak Nalo said the forum has given the state government time till August 15 to fulfill its demands, warning that the government would be responsible for any eventuality if it failed to act within the stipulated period.

“The state government can resolve this issue in just a day. Unfortunately, the government has been dragging the issue for the last five years for whatsoever reasons,” Nalo said.

Addressing the gathering, Nalo said the rally was organized as a “referendum” to mount pressure on the government over the forum’s long-pending demands.

He said August 8 holds historical significance as the day the Quit India Movement was launched in 1942 under Mahatma Gandhi’s “Do or Die” call. Drawing a parallel, Nalo said the AFTF would intensify its democratic agitation if the government failed to address its demands.

“We hope the state government will not compel us to launch an extensive movement and instead act on our demands at the earliest,” he said.

Nalo also termed the state government’s decision to constitute a six-member committee to examine the feasibility of scrapping the 80:20 reservation ratio as an “eyewash”, alleging that it was aimed at delaying a decision on the issue.

The committee, headed by Industries Minister Nyato Dukam, was constituted on July 6 to examine the feasibility of abolishing the existing reservation ratio and making APST and PRC certificates mandatory for candidates appearing in recruitment examinations conducted by the APPSC and APSSB.

Nalo alleged that a similar committee headed by then Education Minister Taba Tedir was constituted in 2022 to examine the issue. Though the committee submitted its report in 2024, the government has not acted on its recommendations, he claimed.

Meanwhile, the six-member committee is scheduled to hold a meeting on August 10 to deliberate on the issue.