Orissa high court seeks govt response to PIL over 2 year vacancies in State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC)

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday set a two-week deadline for the state government to file a response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging prolonged inaction in filling key vacancies in the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC).The petition, moved by High Court lawyer and human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das, pointed out that the posts of chairperson and three members of the commission have remained vacant since February 1, 2024, after the previous incumbents completed their three-year tenure.The two-judge bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman granted the time after Additional Government Advocate Sanjiv Kumar Swain sought time to take instructions from the government on the PIL.As per norms, the chairperson is to be appointed from among former high court judges, while the panel includes a social scientist and two members from backward communities with relevant expertise.Describing the delay as detrimental to social justice, the PIL sought a direction to the state government to fill the vacancies within a time-bound framework.According to the petition Odisha is home to 216 SEBC communities who face challenges to access equitable opportunities in education, employment, and welfare schemes. “In the absence of a functioning Commission these communities are deprived of a statutory forum to voice their concerns and seek redressing of their legitimate demands,” the petition contends.“It is an imperative need that the State government should take immediate steps for the early function of the OSCBC by nominating / appointing the Chairperson and Members for upholding the spirit of social justice and fulfilling the aspirations of the State’s backward communities,” the petition further contends.The petition argued that the non-functioning of the Commission has adversely affected the 216 SEBC communities in the state, depriving them of a statutory platform to raise concerns related to education, employment, and welfare.The chief secretary, commissioner-cum-secretary of the minorities and backward class development department, and the member secretary of OSCBC have been made parties in the case. The matter will be taken up for hearing after two weeks along with the response from the state government.