Bhubaneswar, June 11: The state secretariat has been witnessing tension during the past two days over the promotion of desk officers to the rank of under secretary.

Members of secretariat branch of the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Employees Welfare Co-ordination Council today demonstrated in the secretariat corridor demanding scrapping of the promotion and gradation list. They alleged that the list was defective and ST and SC officials had been discriminated against.

On Wednesday, members of the Odisha Secretariat Service Association had demonstrated in front of the chief secretary's room demanding immediate publication of the list of selected officials drawn up by the departmental promotion committee.

After the demonstration, a delegation of the council met information and public relations minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati and urged them not to issue the promotion order.

However, in the afternoon, the state government published the promotion list of 44 desk officers to the under secretary rank.

Of the 44 elevated officers, four belonged to the SC category and one to the physically handicapped category.

The remaining 39 officials were from the general category.

President of Odisha Secretariat Service Association Chittaranjan Hota said that the general administration department and the law department had vetted the recommendations of the departmental promotion committee, after examining all legal angles.

"The chief minister has already approved the list," he said.

The ST/SC Employees Welfare Co-ordination Council secretary Ananta Kumar Majhi, however, alleged that general category employees were being promoted by ignoring the Odisha Reservation of Vacancies Act and Rules.