Bhubaneswar: With the Odisha State Selection Board (SSB) lecturer recruitment 2024 case pending for nearly over two years, aspirants have urged the state govt to expedite the legal process and conduct the job test by Nov this year.The lecturer aspirants on Wednesday sought an early resolution of the case and protection of recruitment opportunities for all eligible candidates. They urged the govt to present its clear stand before the division bench during the next hearing scheduled for Sept 24 and ensure that the prolonged legal dispute does not adversely affect the candidates waiting for the recruitment process to resume.The SSB had halted the recruitment process after Orissa High Court, in Nov 2024, ruled that appointments in non-govt aided colleges must strictly follow UGC guidelines requiring candidates to have either NET or a PhD. The higher education department, which had issued an advertisement in March 2024 to fill 786 lecturer posts across 22 subjects in non-govt colleges, challenged the ruling before a division bench. The matter is still pending.Senior officials in the department said they were aware of the delay in the recruitment process and that further steps towards appointments could be taken after the court hearing. Guest lecturers were being engaged in the meantime to ensure that teaching in the colleges continued without disruption, they said.The aspirants, however, sought the discontinuation of guest faculty appointments in aided colleges and regular recruitment against required Direct Payment posts. They demanded that all eligible applicants be allowed to appear for the examination and that the recruitment process be completed at the earliest.They further demanded that the department publish an annual recruitment calendar for the SSB, with clear timelines for notification, examination, document verification, interview and final appointment. Such a calendar, they said, would provide greater certainty to aspirants and prevent prolonged delays in future recruitment.
