Attack on BMC official: OAS and ORS officers in 16 districts of Odisha go on mass leave

In an extraordinary step, Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) and the Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) employees across sixteen districts of the state commenced mass leave from Tuesday for indefinite period, protesting against the assault on Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo.

These districts are Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Rayagada, Deogarh, Nuapada, Subarnapur, Balasore, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Bolangir, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj and Jharsuguda. The officers have made it clear that they will not return to work until exemplary and concrete action is taken in connection with the incident.

Around 150 OAS and ORS officers in the Cuttack district have only taken mass leave. However, they have assured that they will return to work in case of any kind of emergency.

Question mark over decision

Earlier, members of the OAS Association met Chief Minister MohanMajhi, and there was a discussion about the matter. The association had agreed that they would not take any steps in response to the incident after CM Majhi assured them of necessary action against the culprits. However, the mass leave by the OAS officers across sixteen districts of the state suggests a lack of proper coordination among associations, informed sources.

Must Read: Attack on BMC official: Fifth accused arrested by police

After the attack on the BMC official, police swung into action and arrested as many as five persons in this connection. Under the circumstances, questions have been raised over the decision of the OAS and ORS officials across sixteen districts of the state to take mass leave for indefinite period, as the general public will suffer because of the cease-work.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Odisha unit suspended five of its members on Tuesday, including a local Corporator.

The disciplinary action was confirmed by the party’s state president, Manmohan Samal, citing internal misconduct.