Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has ordered the State government to regularize jobs of 75 contractual data entry operators engaged in the Commercial Tax Department.

The High Court issued the order upholding the earlier order of the Odisha Administrative Tribunal (OAT) in the matter.

Challenging OAT’s order the State government had moved the High Court.

It’s worth mentioning here that these 75 contractual data entry operators who had been working in the State government’s Commercial Tax Department since 2005 were given appointment on September 17, 2013.

However, since the appointment was not effected by the State government these data entry operators had moved OAT.

It was after OAT holding the appointments as valid; the State government had knocked the doors of the High Court challenging the former’s order.

“They had filed the case for regularization of their jobs. Since the government didn’t regularize their jobs they had approached the OAT. The OAT had ordered in their favour. However, the government after a lapse of one year had challenged OAT’s order in the High Court. The High Court has dismissed the State government’s petition at the admission stage,” informed Atul Tripathy, counsel for data entry operators.