Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has ruled that studying in a Telugu-medium school does not disqualify a candidate from engagement as a Sikhya Sahayak (SS) (Telugu), provided he has studied Odia up to the prescribed level.
The Division Bench of Justices BP Routray and Savitri Ratho dismissed the Odisha government’s appeal against a single-judge bench’s January 17, 2025, order directing the authorities to engage Purushottam Dalli as a Sikhya Sahayak (Telugu) against an available vacancy in Gajapati district.
Dalli’s candidature has been rejected by the Col lector-cum-Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Ga japati, on the ground that he did not possess an HSC pass certificate from an Odia-medium school.
The government argued that Clause 6.2 of the School and Mass Education Department’s December 26, 2016 resolution mandated candidates for Urdu, Bengali, and Telugu Sikhya Sa hayak posts to have passed HSC in Odia medium.
The Bench, however, said the provision must be read as a whole.
Since Dal li had studied Odia up to Class X and had knowledge of both Odia and Telugu, his qualification met the requirement, it held. Furthermore, the court accordingly dismissed the appeal.