MALKANGIRI/ROURKELA: Thousands of tribals dressed in traditional attire participated in a rally, organised by SC and ST United Coordination Committee to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in Malkangiri town on Friday.
Addressing the massive gathering, District Adivasi Sangha president Balraju Gamel said residents of Chitrakonda who have been displaced twice for development projects are yet to receive land pattas. He urged the government to immediately look into the matter.
Before construction of the controversial Polavaram Project by Andhra Pradesh, about 139 villages of Podia, Kalimela, Korukonda and Mathili were affected in 1986 and 2006 due to the backwater .The extent of loss and sufferings once the project becomes operational is beyond imagination, said social activist Kamraj Kabasi while urging the government to suitably compensate the affected. Among others, chief advisor Pravakar Hantal addressed the gathering.
In Rourkela, hundreds of tribals marched to the office of the ADM and staged a demonstration demanding implementation of PESA Act. Sundargarh Zilla PESA Gram Sabha Coordination Committee president Budhua Jojo said as the day is observed to raise awareness and protection on the rights of the indigenous population, it is time the state government and the Sundargarh district administration acted sincerely to protect them from exploitation and save their culture, heritage and traditional practices.
Jojo said the committee has sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi demanding implementation of the PESA Act in tribal-dominated Sundargarh district in its original form. He said they further demanded the government to roll back the decision to evict uninhabited and government land.