Bhubaneswar, October 23: A day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi recommended a CBI investigation into the alleged Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment examination scam the State, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Thursday said that the decision was aimed to ensure absolute transparency and fairness in recruitment examinations.

"Our Government has been steadfast in its efforts to bring complete transparency to all recruitment examinations for the youth. The Chief Minister's decision for a CBI probe aims to ensure absolute transparency and restore public trust in the system. With these measures, I believe candidates will be able to appear for exams with full confidence," said Harichandan.

Maintaining that a new law has already been introduced to impose stricter penalties on anyone attempting to undermine the integrity of these examinations, the Minister said the long-standing practice of unscrupulous elements interfering in the recruitment process will gradually come to an end.

“Recruitment across various departments, including the police had remained stagnant for nearly five years. Now, the Government has launched a large-scale recruitment drive to fill all existing vacancies, as well as positions needed for future development," said the Minister.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi recommended a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Sub-Inspectors (SIs) in various departments, including police, and fire and emergency services.

So far, 123 people, including 114 SI aspirants, have been arrested in connection with the irregularities. The case is at present being investigated by the Crime Branch of the Odisha Police.

The recruitment examination was scheduled to be held on October 5 and 6, but was postponed by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) after the irregularities were detected.

Tags: SI Recruitment Scam SI exam scam Prithiviraj Harichandan Recruitment scam CBI probe