Bhubaneswar, Sep 30 (IANS) Odisha Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday slammed the state government over the cancellation of the Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE), 2024, terming it a systematic failure of governance.

Taking to his X handle, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president expressed shock over the announcement regarding the cancellation of the CPSE, 2024, held for the recruitment of Sub Inspectors for the Odisha police.

“Shocked to know that one more recruitment exam was cancelled in #Odisha today. The Combined Police Service Examination 2024, meant to recruit Sub-Inspectors, was cancelled today by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board. This marks the fourth recruitment examination scrapped since July 2025 amid allegations of malpractice and question paper leaks,” said Patnaik.

The BJD supremo in his post also highlighted the recruitment examinations cancelled so far since July 2025. He revealed that the Special OTET-2025 was cancelled just hours before commencement after a paper leak triggered widespread outrage on July 20.

The Odisha Sub-Ordinate Staff Selection Commission (OSSSC) cancelled its Combined Recruitment Examination (for RI, ARI, Amin, ICDS Supervisor, SFS) that was scheduled between August 1 and September 4, citing irregularities in the preliminary process on July 30.

Patnaik also stated that the Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, on August 22 again postponed the rescheduled Special OTET-2025 examination, citing “unavoidable circumstances,” leaving aspirants frustrated.

He asked the state government to immediately fix the troubling pattern in Odisha’s recruitment system to restore the trust of the people.

“These repeated disruptions highlight a troubling pattern in Odisha’s recruitment system, undermining trust and affecting lakhs of job seekers across the state. All these points towards systemic failure of governance, which the BJP-led #Odisha Govt needs to fix immediately to restore the trust of people,” appealed Patnaik.

Odisha Police Recruitment Board on Tuesday cancelled the written examination of (CPSE), 2024, which was scheduled to be held on October 5 and 6.

The board postponed the examination over suspicions of malpractices after a bus carrying over 100 candidates to Hyderabad was intercepted at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh by Berhampur police on Monday night.

The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has reportedly launched a probe to ascertain why such a large number of candidates were being taken to Hyderabad, the persons and agency responsible for this and the probable involvement of any board members in it.

–IANS

gyan/dan