Oriyas neglected in PSUs, allege Orissa MLAs.

Cutting across party lines MLAs of Orissa expressed concern over the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) continued negligence to the cause of Orissa and Oriya boys.
"Oriyas are being neglected even in the State itself. They have not been given recruitment in Central PSUs like Railways, Nalco and Mahanadi Coal Field Limited," alleged members on the floor of the House. "The Government should publish a White Paper on how many Oriya boys are being recruited by these public sector units during the last three to four years," they demanded.Raising the issue through a special mention during Zero Hour,in the Assembly, Chief Whip of the Government Kishore Chandra Mohanty said non-Oriya officers denied jobs to Oriya youth. People from Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh are getting more and more jobs at the cost of Oriya youth. "There is no job for Oriyas in the Group-D service also. Though they earn huge profits from Orissa, no opportunities are given to Oriya youth at the time of recruitment," he said.Supporting Mohanty, BJD member Pradip Kumar Maharathi said only Biharis were getting jobs in the Railways. After Biharis, people from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are given preference at the time of job selection. "If the situation does not change, more trouble will crop up," he cautioned.BJP member Rabi Naryan Nayak said only 241 were recruited during the past four years and out of this only 87 were Oiyas.Congress member Tara Prasad Bahinipati said there was a 'Bihari raj' in the Rail sector. Nowhere Oriyas were being given jobs. "Public Sector companies like Nalco and MLC are also ignoring the cause of Oriyas," he alleged.BJD's Bikram Keshari Arukh and Kalpataru Das said at the time of giving tenders, Biharis were given the preference. They also alleged that Orissa had been neglected by the Railway Minister in the current Budget.