MALKANGIRI : Dressed as ‘ghosts’ three land losers, allegedly shown as dead in official records, launched an indefinite dharna outside the Mathili tehsil office here on Monday.
The three affected persons - Subhadra Nayak, Damuni Nayak and Uddhab Nayak of Mundaguda - claimed they were deprived of compensation meant for land acquired for a railway project as they were recorded as dead in official documents.
The protesters alleged that despite being alive and eligible for compensation, their names were omitted from the list after they were shown as deceased. They alleged that other members of the family received over `7 crore in compensation, depriving them of their rightful share.
According to the land losers, neither the tehsil authorities nor the officials concerned with the railway project properly verified the records before excluding them from the list of eligible beneficiaries.
They said they submitted written complaints to the authorities seeking an inquiry and payment of their legitimate compensation but no action was taken on their grievances.
As their pleas went unheeded, they resorted to the symbolic ‘ghost’ protest and announced that the dharna would continue indefinitely until their grievances were addressed.
Later in the evening, the protest was called off after sub-collector Duryodhan Bhoi called the parties for a hearing on Tuesday.
Bhoi told this paper that the issue is civil in nature and arose from legal heir issue among the family members. The compensation has been put on hold by Mathili tehsildar and all efforts are being made by the administration to resolve the issue amicably, he added.