Chhatra Congress Activists Hurl Eggs, Tomatoes At Odisha Minister’s House Over Jr Teacher Recruitment Row

Bhubabneswar: Chhatra Congress activists staged a demonstration and hurled eggs and tomatoes at the official residence of Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Sudam Marndi’s official residence in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, alleging irregularities in the recruitment of junior teachers.

Holding banners and placards, the demonstrators shouted slogans against the state government and demanded a judicial probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of junior teachers.

The protesters also demanded removal of the Minister over the issue and burnt his effigy.
Hitting out at both the Centre and Odisha government, Syed Yashir Nawaz, president of NSUI Odisha, told reporters during the protest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have betrayed the youths.

“Unemployed youths are being cheated as jobs are being sold here,” he alleged, holding both the Centre and the Odisha government responsible for the plight of jobless youths.

It may be noted here that after publication of the draft merit list of the recruitment drive recently, many aspirants alleged irregularities and staged a protest outside the office of the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) in Bhubaneswar last week. They lamented that the cut-off marks were not released prior to the publication of merit list.

Many aspirants alleged that there have been irregularities in the Computer-Based Test (CBT) for the recruitment of Junior Teachers. Another serious allegation they made was that several examinees with higher scores had not been placed in the merit list.

Some aspirants also moved the Orissa High Court, which has directed the state government to refrain from going ahead with the final selection and appointment of junior teachers till the next hearing on January 24.