Over 1 lakh applicants, 26 transgender in fray for 477 SI posts in Odisha police

BHUBANESWAR: Altogether 132496 applicants including 26 persons belonging to the transgender community are all set to vie for 477 SI (sub-inspector) posts in Odisha police. Taking a cue from Tamil Nadu, the Odisha police for the first time invited applications from the transgender persons for the SI job in the state police.
“We have received overwhelming response from the SI job aspirants. Total 132496 applications were received from the date of commencement of the online application on June 22 till the last date on July 15. The applicants included 97506 male, 34964 female and 26 transgender persons,” a senior police officer said.
The computer based recruitment examination is likely to be held from August 8 to 16, sources said.
All eyes are on the Odisha police as they will conduct the recruitment of sub-inspectors (SIs) after 27 years. The Odisha staff selection commission (OSSC) had taken over the task of recruiting the SIs from the Odisha police in 1994 following alleged corruption and mismanagement by some police recruiters.
The state government recently constituted a new recruitment board in Odisha police and given the mantle of the appointment of SIs back in the hand of the state police headquarters in the wake of inordinate delay in conduct of the exams by the OSSC over the years.
“Our priority would be to ensure timely recruitment of the SIs in a transparent manner. For the first time we are introducing technology in the appointment process. The applicants would be asked to write their papers through our computer based recruitment examination (CBRE). Viva voce has been done away with. The SIs would be selected following written and physical tests in a professional manner,” the police recruitment board’s chairman R K Sharma said. An IG-ranked officer and another SP-ranked officer are the two members of the Odisha police recruitment board.
It must be noted that the OSSC had last recruited only 134 SIs in Odisha police in 2020. Shockingly, examination of the posts was conducted in 2015. The sub-inspectors have been undergoing training at the Biju Patnaik State Police Academy here. Official sources said the OSSC has not been able to complete the recruitment process in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. No advertisement was issued for the posts in 2020 in view of the Covid pandemic and restrictions on new appointments by the government, sources said.