BHUBANESWAR: Even as the work load of State Government has increased manifold with creation of new departments from time to time, the staff strength of Odisha Secretariat has not been revised for the last four decades. The last revision made in 1979, the year common cadre for the Odisha Secretariat Service (OSS) was introduced.
The OSS cadre strength was 3,500 before the State Government started rationalisation of its employees from 2000 by way of abolition of 50 per cent of base level vacant posts and reduction of manpower by 10 per cent in the course of three years as per memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Centre.
Under the exercise of austerity measures, around 700 junior assistants post were abolished. Though equal number of posts were created at the higher level, a leaner staff strength at the base level not only added pressure on existing employees but delay in disposal of files thus defeating the very purpose of timely delivery of services.
The current staff strength in the Secretariat is 2,920, including 88 posts created in the last five years.The existing strength of Assistant Section Officer (ASO), the entry level post, is 1,544 while a rough assessment by General Administration department said at least 2,800 officers are required for speedy disposal of various works.
Considered the backbone of Secretariat administration, the OSS cadre employees do a host of works. Apart from dealing establishment matters, they prepare the State budget, frame rules as per the State and Central Acts, interpret rules, prepare policy and ensure proper implementation of Central schemes.
“In these 40 years, the number of districts have increased from 13 to 30 so also the number of blocks and tehsils. Government departments have been bifurcated and new departments have been created. The State and the Centre are introducing new schemes every year thus increasing the work load,” said a senior officer of the General Administration department.
With increase in population, there has been substantial growth of educational institutions starting from schools to university, hospitals and medical colleges. While workload has increased several fold, the government has never bothered to reassess staff requirement after abolition of posts as part of its fiscal compression measures, the sources added.
“It is high time that the General Administration department should review the staff strength of OSS cadre and create additional posts as per Odisha Secretariat Instructions for smooth and timely delivery of assigned jobs under newly introduced 5T scheme,” said the Odisha Secretariat Service Association.