BHUBANESWAR: Governor Raghubar Das was on Monday urged to take steps for formation of a statutory constitutional commission to speed up the process of justice for the displaced people and safeguard their rights.
A team of rights activists and academics headed by retired Prof of Delhi University Manoranjan Mohanty, which has prepared a report on the ‘Displacement and Human Rights Violations - The Odisha Story’, submitted the findings to the Governor urging him to take action on the recommendations. The team prepared the report after holding public hearings with the displaced people.
The members pointed out that the displaced people have no constitutional redressal forum to get justice during the process of land acquisition or forceful eviction from their land. Those belonging to tribal communities are the most affected. During eviction, the displaced are often deprived of proper compensation and rehabilitation. There is also no data on the whereabouts of families displaced due to the Hirakud dam project.
The team appealed to the Governor to take necessary actions to ensure that both the Centre and the state government implement the recommendations made in their report. It suggested setting up of a statutory body on the lines of existing statutory commissions such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). If a national commission on the rights of displaced people is formed, it would function like the NHRC and act as a grievance redressal mechanism for people affected by various projects, they said.
They also recommended maintaining an official register to keep a record of the displaced people and publishing an annual white paper on the state of implementation of the LARR Act, 2013.