BARIPADA: Members of the Kudumi Mohanta community have alleged that they are unable to get ST status due to apathy of the State government. Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday, Kudumi Sena president Jaimuni Mohanta accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of playing vote bank politics with the community before the panchayat polls, after sending Mamata Mohanta as MP for Rajya Sabha. At least 10 communities got ST status in the country recently, but the demand of Kudumi Mohantas is yet to be recognised. The community was given ST status up to 1951 but later delisted by the government without any reason.
“We are very unhappy with the BJD government which submitted reports to Centre in favour of Purana and Tamudia Purana communities to recognise them for ST status in 2018, but has been ignoring our demands for over seven decades. Time will come to give the right answer,” Jaimuni said. The Kudumi Mohanta community is spread across Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Assam.