Expressing solidarity with their Koraput counterparts, members of the Odisha Revenue Clerks’ Association of 14 districts resorted to cease-work agitation on Thursday demanding transfer of Koraput Collector Jayakumar V and withdrawal of transfer orders slapped by him on 11 Collectorate officials in connection with the recent landing of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s helicopter.
The clerks sat on a dharna in front of the respective Collectorate against the decision of the Koraput Collector.
“We have presented our demands before the State Government. Officials of 14 districts also support our stir and are on strike,” a member of the association said.
“Though we have been performing our duties with utmost sincerity, our pleas have not been heard. We will continue our cease-work stir if the demands are not met at the earliest,” he added.
Notably, on February 13, Collector Jaykumar V suspended Junior Clerk Krushna Chandra Pradhan and later transferred an ADM and an Assistant Collector in connection with the permission given for landing of Dharmendra Pradhan’s chopper at Borigumma for an election rally last month.
later, 10 other clerks were also put under suspension on ground of dereliction of duty after the Collectorate staffs protested the action taken against Pradhan and two officials.