BHUBANESWAR: Despite being a Scheduled Area, Odisha is yet to create a full-fledged tribal welfare cell at the Governor’s secretariat - a proposal that had been made by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) 15 years ago to help the Governor fulfil his duties towards the ST population.
Instead, the state government has now decided to utilise its Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) under the ST and SC Development department to assist the Governor’s secretariat in implementing the work related to the cell.
In a recent letter to Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati’s secretariat, commissioner-cum-secretary of ST and SC Development department, B Parameswaran said the state government has approved SCSTRTI to assist in executing work related to the tribal welfare cell of the Governor.
The government reasoned that SCSTRTI as an organisation has been dedicatedly working on research and allied activities on tribal development in Odisha for several years now.
The MOTA proposal dates back to 2010. The tribal welfare cell at the Governor’s secretariat was proposed under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution which contains provisions about the special responsibilities and role of the Governor in the Scheduled Areas.
These responsibilities include referring certain tribal issues to the Tribal Advisory Council, prohibiting or restricting transfer of land in Scheduled Areas, repealing or amending any Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of the State or any existing law applicable to the Scheduled Areas, etc.
Officials in the secretariat said as per clause 3 of the Fifth Schedule, the Governor has to annually make a report regarding the administration of the Scheduled Areas in the state.
Although a tribal cell was made operational in 2013, it operated in a makeshift arrangement with only two retired faculty members of anthropology and no full-fledged member as prescribed. The Governor’s office managed the cell by hiring a third party for evaluation of the progress on various tribal development schemes and programmes in the state.
Officials said in August this year, the Governor’s secretariat had again urged the chief secretary’s office for a full-fledged cell. Currently, states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh with lesser ST population have functional tribal welfare cells at their respective Raj Bhavans.