Public seethe as OAS strike cripples essential services
Despite the assurances of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and senior ministers of taking strictest of action against those involved in the incident, the OAS Association has been unrelenting, and continued its strike in different districts.
The Association on Thursday issued a three-day ultimatum to the state government to arrest BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, whom it accused of being the kingpin behind the assault. It also demanded provision of adequate security for all field-level executive officers including tehsildars, sub-collectors, BDOs and executive officers, and public condemnation of the incident by the government.
Notwithstanding the serious problems faced by common citizens in availing public services, around 1,500 OAS and ORS officers working in more than 20 districts, including Cuttack, Khurda, Ganjam, Balangir, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Kendrapara, Sambalpur and Koraput continued their indefinite mass leave, disrupting day-to-day government work.
The protest also hampered administrative services in Lok Seva Bhawan here and other government establishments in the capital city. Apart from the OAS and ORS bodies at the state and district-level, a dozen of other employees associations including Odisha Engineers' Service Association have also extended their support to the agitation. The protest has left thousands of citizens to grapple with delays in availing a wide range of critical services - from caste and income certificates to filing grievance for land mutation.
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