The Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC) has cancelled the RI, ARI, Amin, ICDS Supervisor, and SFS preliminary examination, along with the scheduled main exam.
The move comes following serious allegations of irregularities and legal challenges against the examination process.
Advocate General Pitambar Acharya informed the Odisha High Court that the entire recruitment cycle has been annulled, and the previously scheduled main examination—set to run from August 1 to September 6—has been scrapped. All aspirants who appeared in the prelims had been declared passed, triggering petitions over rule violations. The original notification specified that only five times the number of vacancies would proceed to the next stage.
The High Court, under Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy, has instructed the OSSSC to reinitiate the recruitment process, strictly limiting the opportunity to those who had already applied. No fresh applications will be entertained, and candidates will not be required to pay any additional fees. A new notification for the preliminary exam is expected to be issued within 14 days, likely by August 15.
According to reports, the recruitment drive conducted between September 20 and October 8, 2024, had been marred by widespread malpractice. Allegations included financial exploitation of candidates in exchange for job assurances. Student organisations subsequently staged protests demanding the cancellation of the flawed selection process.
With over five lakh candidates affected, OSSSC now faces the challenge of restoring transparency and credibility to Odisha’s state-level recruitment framework.
