Govt offices open in Sambalpur after five months

(Surjit Dhal , Sambalpur, Feb 19) : Government offices opened in Sambalpur on Tuesday after remaining closed for over five months due to the strike by the lawyers in the city over setting up of a permanent High Court bench in Western Odisha.

The decision to open the government offices was taken at the general body meeting of the Sambalpur District Bar Association last evening.

Sambalpur District Bar Association sources said that all government offices have been opened but the court work will remain closed.

Notably, the Western Odisha Lawyers’ Association and the Sambalpur District Bar Association had begun an indefinite strike from September 5 last year, demanding a permanent HC bench in Western Odisha.

As part of its agitation, the lawyers’ body had closed down the government offices in the city in phases.

As a result, all government works had remained paralysed since then.

However, the lawyers’ body relented following the state government’s announcement that it has earmarked Rs 5 crore towards infrastructure for the High Court bench in its vote on account.

Besides, the SDBA also took note of the request made by several NGOs to civil societies to open the government offices as the general public were impacted.