Hundreds of Odisha Secondary School Teachers Eligibility Test (OSSTET) aspirants on Thursday staged a demonstration at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar, protesting 'large scale corruption' in the appointment of higher secondary school teachers.
Demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged corruption in teacher appointment, the OSSTET aspirants took out a procession, shouting slogans against the government. Later they staged a unique protest at Lower PMG by sitting on their knees on road.
The aspirants alleged that they are deprived of getting a job despite securing over 90 percentile marks in the test held in March while many others got jobs through unfair means.
“The Education Minister has been denying corruption allegation. But it is visible even to naked eyes. We have proof to substantiate our allegation. The block education officers are also well aware of it but all of them choose to remain silent to save their jobs,” alleged an agitating aspirant.
“Since our demand has been falling on deaf ears, we assume even Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and 5T Secretary are involved in the corruption and hence, we demand a CBI inquiry into it. If our demand is not met, we will continue our strike for an indefinite period,” said another aspirant.
The OSSTET aspirants said they were left with no option but to take to the streets as they got no joy from the Minister and Secretary with whom they had already taken up their issue.