Odisha govt challenges Orissa High Court’s rejection of OSEPA list for junior teacher recruitment

Bhubaneswar: The Government of Odisha has now challenged the Orissa High Court’s rejection of the merit list prepared by the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) for the recruitment of junior teachers in primary and upper primary schools across the State.

The next hearing is scheduled to be held on April 29.

Last month, the Orissa High Court directed Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) to come up with a fresh draft merit list for appointment of over 18,000 junior teachers in primary schools (Class I to V) and upper primary schools (Class V to VIII) in the state.

OSEPA had published the draft merit list on January 15 for verification of documents on January 20 and 21 after conducting a computer- based test. A batch of petitions challenged the list on the ground that the School and Mass Education department’s August 22, 2023 guidelines on engagement of junior teachers provided for district-wise draft merit list, but OSEPA had published more of a state merit list without adhering to the procedure. Consequently, several candidates who could have figured in the district-wise list did not find place in it, they alleged.

In an interim order, the single judge bench of Justice BP Satapathy on January 19 had allowed verification of the documents but barred OSEPA from final selection and appointment.

The petitioner counsels alleged that the state government’s claim about preparation of a district-wise and category-wise draft merit list was misleading as it still did not strictly follow the guidelines. The state government counsels on the other hand claimed that the merit list has been prepared as per guidelines as there is no bar on giving priority to merit over preference of district.