BHUBANESWAR: The fate of 76 job aspirants, who had made it to the 2011 Odisha Civil Services merit list, still hangs in balance as the State Government is yet to take a decision on their appointment despite a breather from Orissa High Court 10 months ago.Though the candidates who had cleared the test conducted by OPSC in 2015 have been placed, the 76 candidates of 2011 batch are left to suffer for no fault.
Sources said the State Government had issued advertisement for 494 posts in different categories under Odisha Civil Services Examination in 2011-12. While 418 candidates were selected by OPSC and their names were recommended for posting in February last year, the results of 76 posts reserved for Socially Economically Backward Caste (SEBC) were withheld due to lack of clarification on the Supreme Court’s ruling on reservation.
The apex court had ruled out that total reservation should not exceed 50 per sent after which the reservation for SEBC was confined to 12.5 pc. Earlier, the State Government had advertised 27 pc reservation for SEBC.On July 15 last year, though Odisha Administrative Tribunal had directed OPSC to publish the merit list of 76 selected candidates following petitions by five candidates, the OPSC challenged it in the High Court.
“Finally, OPSC announced the merit list of candidates on May 17 after the High Court upheld the tribunal order on March 1. But, they have not yet been appointed due to dilly-dallying approach of the State Government,” alleged an aspirant. Special Secretary of General Administration Department AK Meena assured that the candidates will be posted soon. “Their file has already been processed. I do not see any difficulty in their appointment. Hope they all will join before next financial year,” he added.