The Odisha cabinet recently cleared the creation of an umbrella recruitment agency to hire personnel for uniformed services in the state. The proposed Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission will be responsible for recruiting staff across ranks for four key departments—home, excise, forest, and commerce & transport. The move follows a string of failed hiring exercises, mostly for the state police. The cancellation of police sub-inspector recruitment twice in eight months proved to be the last straw. Charges of question paper leaks from a compromised system prompted the government to hand the probe to the CBI and seek a dedicated recruitment panel that will reportedly be on the lines of the one for the armed forces. On the face of it, the idea addresses a crisis. But what will another recruitment commission offer?
The immediate challenge will be to set up the agency swiftly, as most of the departments have large workforces and the government has set itself a target to fill 1.5 lakh vacancies in five years. Any delay will undo its own promise. In the past, recruitment for the uniformed services was handled by multiple state agencies, none of which could ensure the integrity of the tests. An increasing number of recruitment drives in the last few years were delayed or cancelled as corruption accusations flew thick and fast, severely eroding public trust. The irony is that even the state police recruitment board came up short while conducting its own test to hire sub-inspectors.
Now, a new dedicated agency under the general administration and public grievances department will have the onerous task of doing things in a fair and transparent manner as the future of lakhs of job seekers is at stake. The national trend shows the paper leak mafia is well entrenched and can go to any length to rig the tests for high-profile government jobs. To take on the complex challenge, the Mohan Majhi government would do well not to make the new agency a post-retirement paradise for bureaucrats. It must be designed as a professional body with a strong enforcement authority and accountability. The use of appropriate technology would be a sound investment, too. The new staff selection commission must not end up being another white elephant.
