Diploma engrs' demo for jobs: leader attempts self-immolation

The vice-president of the Odisha Unemployed Diploma Engineers’ Association (OUDEA) on Wednesday attempted to commit self-immolation in front of the State Assembly here demanding appointment of junior engineers in the departmental vacancies through the Diploma Panel System started from 1979.

Association vice president Arta Bandhu Sing took this attempt when a protest meeting was going on. He suddenly came with a bottle of petrol and poured it on him. While he was trying to torch his body, alerted police personnel present over there swung into action and stopped him from doing so.

Sing along with other diploma engineers came in a procession starting from Master Canteen to the lower MPG and staged a rally in front of the State Assembly protesting the State Government’s apathy towards fulfillment of their demands. Association president Priya Ranjan Palai said they have been waiting for over a decade for getting Government jobs as the State Government was posting them as junior engineers from a State-level panel since 1979 as per the vacancies arising at different departments at different times.

Palai said the Government notification of December 29, 2012 has overlooked the panel and said the State Staff Selection Board would recommend candidates for the posts of junior engineers in different departments on the basis of a merit list prepared by the Board after conducting a written test and considering the career marks. “The notification will ruin the job prospects of thousands of meritorious students who have been waiting in the merit list since 1996,” he added. He urged the Chief Minister to take adequate steps to save the futures of 8000 diploma engineers of the State.