Arunachal
The bandh called by Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC)-APPSC turned violent.

Guwahati: The indefinite Itanagar Capital Region (ICR) bandh was called off on Saturday evening after the Arunachal Pradesh government accepted most of the demands of the protesters.

“We have decided to call off the bandh as the chief minister accepted our demands in a meeting on Saturday night,” said a protester.

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Saturday held an 8-hour-long meeting with the protesters following the bandh call which affected normal life in the Itanagar capital region.

The bandh called by Pan Arunachal Joint Steering Committee (PAJSC)-APPSC turned violent on Friday, leaving 10 persons, including four security personnel injured.

Following the violence, chief minister Pema Khandu invited the PAJSC-APPSC for talks.

The PAJSC, representing aspirants of government jobs, has been demanding the fulfillment of its 13-point charter of demands, including the complete overhauling of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission, which carries out government recruitments, and the action against those involved in the paper leak case.

The government has agreed to recommend setting up a Standing Grievance Redressal Committee and institutional mechanism to deal with the grievances of the APPSC candidates/aspirants.

Further, Chief Minister Khandu agreed to place a demand to the Centre within a month for a high-level inquiry committee headed by a retired SC or HC Judge for examinations wherever paper leakage took place from 2014-2022.

At the request of the aspirants, the state government will formally write to ED to investigate all incumbents in the APPSC from 2014-2022 within this month.

Thousands of protesters, including students, youth, parents and guardians and those supporting the demand for free and fair recruitment, took to the streets of the Itanagar Capital Region throughout the day on Saturday.

Thousands were protesting in front of the Arunachal Pradesh secretariat at 10 pm singing the national anthem and chanting slogans.