Calcutta, Nov 4 :    Calcutta, Nov 4:  The coal ministry is under pressure to consider local interests for filling the top slot at a public sector coal company. Local residents of Sambalpur, where Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) is based, including Prasanna Acharya, the local member of Parliament, have demanded the appointment of an Oriya as chairman and managing director of the coal PSU. The Public Enterprises Selection Board had earlier postponed an interview for the selection of new MCL chairman for unexplained reasons. The interview was scheduled for October 30, with over 70 top coal mining and marketing experts vying for the post that fell vacant the next day, following the retirement of chairman S.N. Sharma. The filling of the top slot at the Coal India subsidiary has become an emotive local issue with the powers that be in Delhi being subjected to intense lobbying by the Oriya brigade. 'This is the first time such a demand has risen for the appointment of the chairman of a public sector coal company. But the PESB is unlikely to bow down to such lobbying. Besides, the coal ministry hardly has anything to do with such appointment,'' said a top CIL official. P.N. Sanmughan, minister of state for coal, who visited the headquarters of the coal company in September, had to confront several delegations, demanding the appointment of an Oriya at the helm of MCL. The Oriya officer concerned is B.N. Misra, now the technical director of Bharat Coal Companies Ltd, (BCCL) and formerly technical director MCL, for two years. A CIL source said that Misra is a candidate for the post along with a large number of directors and chief general managers of CIL and its subsidiaries. 'He is the only Oriya officer of his rank posted at MCL and is one of the candidates for CMD's post...Many people smell foul play in his transfer which is construed as a conspiracy to prevent an Oriya officer from reaching the highest post in a CIL subsidiary,'' Acharya said in a note to the coal ministry, pleading Misra's case.