MALKANGIRI: The Odisha Koya Samaj in Malkangiri on Saturday sought intervention of the district and state administration to safeguard constitutional and land rights of tribal communities in the region, alleging they were being subjected to discrimination.
The body warned of massive agitation if their grievances were not met. In a memorandum, district president of the organisation Bhima Barse, alleged that members of the Bengali community, with support from officials and political leaders, were attempting to weaken the constitutional rights of the tribals in the district.
Referring to the 2024 incident in Radhanguda, the organisation members claimed that the Bengalis had launched a campaign, wherein they made objectionable remarks against the Koya tribals on social media.
They alleged that representatives of the Bengali community even approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah around three months ago seeking changes that would adversely affect the Scheduled Tribe rights enjoyed by the tribal communities in the district.
The organisation further accused non-tribals of exploiting tribal farmers by denying them fair payment for agricultural produce, illegally occupying forest and tribal lands, manipulating land records and obtaining loans in the names of tribals for commercial ventures. It alleged that despite such incidents, the district administration and the Forest department had failed to take any effective steps in this regard.
Claiming that welfare funds and development schemes meant exclusively for tribals through Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) were being diverted to non-tribal beneficiaries, the organisation demanded that details of all ITDA beneficiaries and grants be made public.
The organisation claimed that tribals were repeatedly being blamed for incidents of rape, murder and land disputes in the district, while no action was being taken against members of the Bengali community allegedly involved in such cases.