BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday targeted the state government over the launch of special development councils (SDCs) in 14 more districts stating it was another attempt to appease tribals ahead of the 2024 Assembly election. Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi said the BJD government adopted similar tactics before the 2019 elections by launching SDCs in nine districts. All the councils became defunct once the elections were over.
“As the election approached, the government thought of reviving the councils by reconstituting them in September last year and is now claiming that it has done a lot for the tribals, for preservation and promotion of tribal culture and traditions, heritage and unique identity of tribal communities and their socio-economic development,” he said.
Coming down heavily on the state government for not implementing the provisions of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, Majhi said the decision-making process of the tribals has been taken away from gram sabhas by the district collectors.
The tribal BJP MLA from Keonjhar further alleged that a vast majority of the tribal population is yet to be covered under Forest Rights Act and other schemes. “Why has the government not convened a single meeting of the Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) during the last five years,” Majhi asked. He further alleged that tribal districts are still far from the development process despite the utilisation of over `16,000 crores from the DMF fund.