Bhubaneswar: Congress leader Srikant Kumar Jena has written to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, urging the state government to expedite the recruitment process for teachers and fill up the SC/ST teacher backlog posts at the earliest.
In his letter, Jena referred to the shortage of teachers and backlog vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government secondary schools of Odisha as per information furnished by the Directorate of Secondary Education, Odisha.
“Letter No. 27298 / DSE(O)-FEI-CASE-0514-2025-II dated 25.10.2025, submitted to the School & Mass Education Department in connection with W.P.(C) No. 25215/2025 (Arpita Priyadarshini & Others –vs– State of Odisha & Others), has indicated 5,565 teacher posts are vacant. The said communication further states that 2,798 teacher posts pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes backlog are yet to be filled and are under active consideration of the Government,” Jena s
tated.
The former Union minister further pointed out that in the review meeting of the School & Mass Education Department on 30th July, 2025 under the Chairmanship of the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, it was indicated that the recruitment process through the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) was expected to be completed by August 2025.
“However, the subsequent submission made by the Directorate of Secondary Education before the Hon’ble High Court on 25.10.2025 clearly indicates that the vacant teacher posts as well as the teacher posts meant for SC/ST backlog categories still remain unfilled, affecting the functioning of Government Secondary Schools,” Jena stated.
“In view of the above, I urge the Government to expedite the recruitment process for teachers and fill up the SC/ST teacher backlog posts at the earliest,” he concluded.
In a Facebook post, shared with pictures, Jena wrote: “While 5,565 teacher posts remain vacant and 2,798 SC/ST backlog posts are pending, the youth of Odisha continue to wait for justice. I stand firmly with the aspirants and demand immediate recruitment and filling of all teacher and SC/ST backlog posts.”