Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of job aspirants on Tuesday staged a protest at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar, opposing the alleged shortfall in reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) in the Odisha Uniformed Services Staff Selection Commission (OUSSSC) recruitment notification for police constables.
The controversy centres on the Combined Uniformed Services Examination notification, which reportedly provides only 2 per cent reservation for SEBC candidates. Aspirants alleged that several districts have very few vacancies earmarked for the category, while more than 20 districts have no SEBC-reserved posts.
They demanded proper implementation of the prescribed 11.25 per cent reservation for SEBC candidates across all districts and departments. The protesters pointed out that previous recruitment drives had offered greater representation to SEBC candidates, but the latest notification, particularly for police services such as the Odisha Industrial Security Force (OISF), has left many aspirants disappointed. The OISF recruitment has come after a gap of nearly 10 years, they said.
The age eligibility criteria have also triggered resentment. Aspirants argued that SEBC candidates applying against unreserved vacancies would have to meet the general category age limit, potentially rendering many of them ineligible. They demanded appropriate age relaxation to ensure that eligible SEBC candidates are not excluded from the recruitment process.
Responding to the allegations, OUSSSC Chairman Rashmi Ranjan Swain said the recruitment advertisement had been issued in accordance with the prevailing legal provisions and government rules governing reservation.
He said district-wise vacancies had been determined based on the availability of sanctioned posts and the applicable reservation roster, with the concurrence of the SC and ST Development Department. The Commission could neither arbitrarily increase nor reduce vacancies in any district, he maintained.
The state government’s newly constituted OUSSSC has issued its first major recruitment notification for more than 7,000 police constable posts. However, the dispute over reservation and age eligibility has cast a shadow over the recruitment exercise, with aspirants demanding a review of the provisions.
