BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Association announced to go on mass leave from Tuesday to protest the attack on BMC additional commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo by alleged BJP-supported hooligans on the corporation premises on Monday.
The state civil services body in its letter to all the OAS officers termed the brutal assault on Sahoo in broad daylight an attempt to humiliate government servants and instill fear among them.
“The incident is not an isolated one. A narrative has been set in the past one year to humiliate government servants and cause physical assault and mental agony to them. It is not only unprecedented and deeply disturbing but also represents a grave threat to the safety and dignity of officers across the state who are committed to upholding public service,” the association said.
The association sought immediate and exemplary action against those involved in the attack and demanded implementation of robust measures for the safety and protection of officers at the workplace.
“Until then, as a mark of protest and to express our collective concern, members of the association will remain on mass leave,” it stated.
Leaders cutting across partylines too condemned the brutal assault on the senior bureaucrat during BMC’s public grievance hearing on Monday. Leader of Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik said the people named by the officer in his FIR have behaved like criminals.
“If a senior officer is not safe in his own office, what law and order will ordinary citizens expect from the government?” Naveen asked.
“I only hope that the CM directs immediate action to be taken to restore faith in his government and not allow this heinous act to go unpunished like the assault on an officer by the ex-Governor’s son. The people of Odisha will not forgive this,” he said.
BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi also condemned the attack and said she feels ashamed of it.
“We are proud of the ideology of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and this kind of behaviour is certainly not in line with the philosophy and ideology of the party,” Sarangi said while calling for stringent action against the culprits.
“Without decency and discipline, there cannot be any development. Hope the law takes its course,” the BJP MP said.