BHUBANESWAR : The BJP on Friday targeted the BJD for ignoring the interests of the scheduled tribes and using them as vote banks. Referring to the establishment of special development councils (SDCs) in nine tribal dominated districts for conservation of tribal culture aligned with development objectives, general secretary of the State BJP Lekhashree Samantsinghar alleged that the government completely forgot about these councils once the elections were over in 2019. Similarly, the tribal advisory committee (TAC) headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has not met for years as a result of which problems faced by scheduled tribes across the State are not being solved, she added.
Stating that 21 tribal dialects are on the verge of extinction due to lack of government patronage, Samantsinghar alleged that development in tribal areas has been hampered due to large scale misappropriation of district mineral fund (DMF).
She also referred to large scale corruption in Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) at the district level. Quoting from the National Family Health Survey, she alleged that children in most of the tribal dominated districts are afflicted with acute malnutrition, but the State government is yet to initiate any action in this regard.