OAS main exams deferred for 3 months.

The Hindu,Cuttack.

Happy news for Orissa Administrative Service (OAS) aspirants. The main examinations scheduled to be held from May 27 would now be held after three months. The Cuttack bench of State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) on Thursday directed the Orissa Public Service Commission (OPSC) to recast the preliminary results afresh that were published earlier this year. Accordingly, the SAT has also asked the OPSC to conduct the OAS main examinations after a gap of three months.

One Nibedita Das and several other candidates had approached the SAT alleging that the OAS-2006 preliminary results were not published in accordance to the rules governing them. Urging the tribunal to quash the impugned results, the petitioners had mentioned that the advertisement was made for recruitment of 380 OAS officials. Accordingly, 12 times of the posts, i.e. 4560 candidates should have been shortlisted for the main examination. Instead, only 3700 candidates were declared qualified to sit for the main examination, the petitioners alleged.

Issuing notices to the State Government and OPSC, SAT chairman Haraprasad Das on Thursday disposed of the petitions asking the OPSC to allow candidates numbering 12 times of the posts to sit for the main examination. Accordingly, the OPSC was asked to conduct the main examinations after three months so as to allow the Commission to publish the result of 860 more candidates. Some OAS aspirants were demanding postponement of the examination as they are preparing for the UPSC examinations scheduled for May 18.