TNI Bureau: On a bizarre incident, Members of Kue Samaj Samiti (KSSS), a tribal outfit of Kandhamal district in Odisha, allegedly attacked Sikhya Sahayak (SS) aspirants from districts other than Kandhamal. The job aspirants had come to Phulbani to appear in the screening test for the post of SS and verification of their certificates. The attackers allegedly tore the certificates of some candidates and mercilessly assaulted the outsiders including women candidates.
The certificate verification tests were held at AJO High School, Government Primary Girls’ High School and Project office of Sarva Sikhaya Abhiyan (SSA) for the post of 753 primary teachers. While around 10,000 candidates have applied for the posts, the district administration called around 2,100 for certificate verification and almost all of them turned up.
Lambodar Kanhar, the general secretary of the tribal outfit KSSS has demanded that only candidates from Kandhamal district be appointed as siksha sahayaks. “It is not only the demand of Kui Samaj, but of people of the district,” Kanhar said. He said they had demanded that only people from Kandhamal be appointed for Class III and IV government posts in the district in 1994.
He further said, “We’ll not allow the candidates from other districts to grab the job meant for the people of Kandhamal. However, we would allow the candidates from neighboring Boudh district as they were part of Kandhamal district before bifurcation,” said Kanhar.
Meanwhile, The Kandhamal administration on Wednesday warned of stringent action against persons who recently assaulted the aspiring siksha sahayaks at Phulbani.