Guwahati: A day after the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) cancelled the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) 2024 results just hours after announcing them, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday attributed the move to a technical error in reservation allocation.
Speaking to the press after a Cabinet meeting and ahead of the presentation of the Vote on Account Budget 2026-27 in the State Assembly, Sarma described the issue as a "small" discrepancy in the reservation list.
"Moran and Motok communities were supposed to get two reserved seats each. However, APSC erroneously allotted four seats only to the Motok community," he explained. The Chief Minister dismissed any allegations of corruption or irregularity, assuring that the merit list will remain unchanged once the error is corrected.
"The results will remain the same, and the final list will be released soon after the correction. There is no issue of corruption. Our duty is to ensure justice for the small indigenous communities affected," Sarma added.
The results, announced on Monday, had recommended 288 candidates for appointment to the Assam Civil Service (ACS), Assam Police Service (APS), and allied services but were withdrawn within hours, causing widespread confusion. APSC Secretary Chandana Mahanta stated that the results were cancelled after detecting an error in the notification and promised a corrected list would be issued promptly.
The cancellation sparked protests in Sivasagar's Lakshmi Nagar, where hundreds of students and activists from the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) and Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS) demanded accountability for the administrative lapses. KMSS general secretary Bidyut Saikia criticized the abrupt cancellation, saying thousands of candidates had prepared extensively for the 288 posts.
"When the results were finally uploaded, selected candidates and their families celebrated. But within an hour, APSC cancelled it citing a technical error. How is this fair recruitment?" Saikia questioned. He also called for a thorough investigation into the misallocation, noting that two seats meant for the Moran community were left out while four were wrongly given to the Motok community.
Earlier, in October 2023, the Assam Cabinet had approved one post each for the Moran and Motok communities in ACS Junior Grade and APS Junior Grade recruitments under the 27 per cent OBC/MOBC quota, applicable to APSC's next five CCEs.