HC asks govt to take call on APSC reforms

GUWAHATI: Expressing displeasure over the Assam government's inaction on a draft of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) Rules, 2017, prepared to bring in adequate functional reforms in the commission to ensure a corruption-free recruitment process, the Gauhati high court has directed the state government to take necessary measures immediately.
In a PIL, Jiban Rajkhowa, general secretary of All Assam Unemployed Association, had sought the court's intervention to order the commission to introduce various structural and functional reforms so that no person gets selected by corrupt means."Nepotism and corruption in the APSC is nothing new. A previous inquiry committee, headed by former IAS officers Tapan Lal Baruah and MP Bezbaruah, had recommended structural and functional reforms in the commission. The police investigation in the cash-for-job scam in the APSC has also indicated how the existing rules were misused for corruption," read the PIL.
The petitioner's counsel, Syed Burhanur Rahman, citing the court order, said, "The commission prepared a draft of new APSC (Procedure & Conduct of Business) Rules, 2017 for ensuring a corruption-free selection process. Though the draft rules were sent to the commissioner and secretary of the state government's personnel department in January this year for its approval, no decision has been taken yet. The court accordingly directed the state government, particularly the commissioner and secretary of the personnel department, to immediately take a decision on the draft."