BJP, Congress attack Odisha government over OSSC recruitment paper leak

The Odisha Staff Selection Commission cancelled the main written examination for JE (Civil) conducted on July 16 as part of Combined Technical Services Recruitment Examination

Bhubaneswar: The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday attacked the Odisha government over the leak of the question paper for recruitment of junior engineers that led the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) to cancel the examination on July 24.

Odisha SSC chairman Abhay was the state’s DGP between November 2019 and December 2021. (Twitter/abhayips86)

On Sunday, the state recruitment body cancelled the written examination for recruitment of 1,008 Junior Engineer (Civil) in various departments conducted on July 16 after the Balasore district police confirmed that the papers leaked a day before the examination.

Balasore superintendent of police (SP) Sagarika Nath said an inter-state gang sold the question papers to 100 candidates for ₹8-10 lakh each at a West Bengal hotel on Digha beach on July 15. The OSSC has announced that the examination would be held again on September 3.

On Monday, BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal asked how the question papers reached the accused persons from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

“The present chairman of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission is a former DGP (director general of police). He is supposed to know the modus operandi to be followed when a complaint is received. As the issue falls under the purview of the general administration department, a thorough probe should be conducted by a Special Investigation Team. Steps should also be taken to ascertain whether anyone in OSSC is involved in the racket being run with the help of middlemen,” he said.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak demanded stringent action against those responsible. “Though the BJD government has been making tall claims, the question paper leak showed that there is no transparency in the examination process. Question papers cannot be leaked without the involvement of someone in the OSSC,” he said.

On Monday morning, scores of candidates who appeared for the exam also staged a demonstration outside the OSSC office to demand stern action against staffers involved in the leak.