The Arunachal Pradesh government has terminated the services of over 250 education department personnel for allegedly securing their position through “forged and fabricated appointment order”.

The affected included primary teachers, trained graduate teachers, upper division clerks, and multi-task staff from across the state. The appointments were made between 2015 and 2023.

The termination order issued by education commissioner Amjad Tak on November 16 stated that the terminated personnel had “been appointed/recruited by producing forged and fabricated appointment order”.

The BJP heads the government in the frontier state.

The letter said that after detailed verification of relevant records by an inquiry committee, it was found that such appointment orders were “never issued from the Directorate of Elementary Education” and as such the department decided to cancel the appointment order with immediate effect.

The department also ordered the filing of FIRs against the terminated personnel and steps to recovery of salary and other allowances seeking an action-taken report within 15 days from the date of termination which was decided after the show-cause replies by the illegal appointees failed to satisfy the authorities.

The government had ordered an inquiry in July into the complaints regarding the appointments in June. Of the illegal appointments, 90 were from the Siang district and 72 from the Changlang district.

Although the issue of illegal appointments was an issue of concern in the state where government jobs are coveted for want of employment opportunities, it gathered momentum after the All Longding District Students’ Union in May raised the issue of 28 illegal appointments of primary school teachers in the district. FIRs were also registered against the 28 teachers by a Congress leader, prompting the state to initiate an inquiry by the special investigation cell (SIC) of the vigilance department.

The SIC registered a case in August and later a four-member inquiry committee was also constituted. Sources said three persons had been arrested in connection with the illegal appointments.

The CBI is probing the 2022 cash-for-job scam of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission which conducts various recruitment exams.