Bhubaneswar, Sep 5: Opposition BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday asked the state government to declare fresh dates for the Combined Police Service Examination which was cancelled in the wake of a paper leak in 2025.
The leader of the opposition in the state assembly also ridiculed the BJP administration over taking credit for completing training for 336 sub-inspectors (SI) of police, the process of whose recruitment was initiated during the previous BJD rule.
In a post on X, Patnaik said, “When will the ‘Combined Police Service Exam,’ which was cancelled in 2025 due to the question paper leak, be held? When will the culprits involved in the sale and leak of question papers receive strict punishment?”
He stated that while one sub-inspector batch has completed training and received appointments, thousands of aspirants are still in uncertainty even now due to the paper leak.
He said that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday took the salute at the convocation ceremony of the 13th batch of SIs.
“However, the real story is that the appointment process for these 336 officers—who completed two years of training and joined the Odisha Police—was initiated during the BJD government,” he pointed out.
He extended best wishes to all the newly appointed officers and urged them to work with a firm resolve to strengthen the judicial system along with serving the people.
However, Patnaik said, “The most ironic aspect is that the BJP government is now seeking to take undue credit without doing anything for the SI recruitment of 336 candidates.”
Alleging that the BJP government has already wasted nearly a year for thousands of young men and women aspirants of the Combined Police Service Examination, Patnaik blamed the incompetence of the ‘double-engine’ government for disappointment among Odisha’s youth community.
The BJP government has pushed the dreams and futures of aspirants into uncertainty, the former chief minister alleged.
Stating that this delay in conducting a fresh examination is weakening the self-confidence of youths, Patnaik claimed it is also damaging public trust in the impartiality and transparency of government recruitment.
“The government should immediately organise the exam again and issue a notification,” he said.
BJD president also asserted that the people of Odisha are no longer willing to listen to the BJP government’s “empty rhetoric” and they are preparing to give a fitting response to the ruling party.
Meanwhile, the CBI is probing into the paper leak scam in the ‘Combined Police Service Exam held in 2025.
The examination was cancelled for the third time before Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi handed over the scam to the CBI.
