The Arunachal Frontier Tribal Front (AFTF) has demanded the scrapping of the existing 80:20 recruitment reservation ratio and called for 100 per cent reservation in government jobs for the tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh.Addressing a press conference at the Arunachal Press Club in Itanagar on Friday, AFTF president Tadak Nalo announced that the organisation would organise a peaceful march on July 11 from Akashdeep to IG Park to press for its demand. He appealed to student organisations, community-based organisations, political parties, civil society groups and the people of the state to participate in the protest.Nalo claimed that around 62,000 candidates had registered for a recent special recruitment examination conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB), of whom nearly 53,000 appeared for the test. According to him, around 35,000 of those candidates were non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (non-APST) applicants, which, he said, underlined the need for a stronger reservation policy in favour of indigenous tribal communities.
The AFTF president said the organisation had submitted a memorandum to the state government on June 17 seeking an appointment to discuss the issue but had not received any response. He alleged that the government was not giving the matter the attention it deserved and urged the authorities to address the issue without further delay.Nalo further alleged that although the 80:20 reservation policy exists, it is not being properly implemented in certain recruitment processes. He claimed that some recruitments were allegedly being conducted on a 50:50 basis, which, according to him, diluted the objective of the reservation policy. Explaining the existing system, he said the 80:20 reservation ratio provides for 80 per cent of government posts to be reserved for Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APST) candidates, while the remaining 20 per cent is open to other eligible applicants. He alleged that this provision was not being followed uniformly across all departments.
Referring to the history of the policy, Nalo said it was introduced at a time when the literacy rate in Arunachal Pradesh was comparatively low and candidates from outside the state had a greater advantage in recruitment examinations. However, he said literacy levels in the state had improved significantly over the years, while unemployment among local youth had also increased.
