Deputy CM KV Singh Deo announces these decisions to resolve long-pending issues of tribal communities in Malkangiri
Odisha Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo today announced several decisions in order to resolve the long-pending issues of the tribal communities in Malkangiri.
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo today announced several decisions in order to resolve the long-pending issues of the tribal communities in Malkangiri.
Singh Deo’s announcement comes days after the violence occurred in Malkangiri district last month. He had personally visited and took stock of the situation.
Below are the decisions which the Deputy Chief announced to resolve long-pending land rights, rehabilitation and education issues of tribal communities in the district.
- Fortnightly review of pending land cases: District Collector to review hundreds of pending cases under Regulation 2/56 (as amended in 2002) every fortnight and report progress to RDC Southern and the Government. Regulation 2/56 refers to the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956 (amended in 2002), which protects tribal land from alienation to non-tribals. Thousands of cases remain pending statewide due to delays in resolution.
- Permanent land titles for landless/homeless tribals: Expeditious issuance of permanent pattas under Forest Rights Act (FRA) and OGLS Act; Collector to conduct monthly review and inform the Government.
- Rehabilitation of Machhkund Irrigation Project displaced families: Permanent pattas to be provided; Revenue & Disaster Management Department, in coordination with Water Resources Department, to work out a long-term solution. Machhkund Irrigation Project is a 1950s hydro-electric project (joint with Andhra Pradesh) that displaced many tribal families; rehabilitation remains incomplete decades later.
- Quarterly state-level monitoring: Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management, to conduct quarterly reviews of revenue-related matters in Malkangiri district and report to the Government.
- Irrigation facilities for upland farms: Water Resources Department to soon provide irrigation to upland agricultural lands of tribal and other communities located near reservoirs/water bodies.
- Access to livelihood schemes: Arrangements to ensure tribal applicants benefit from Chief Minister’s Agriculture Development Scheme, PMEGP, and PMFME. PMEGP (Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme), PMFME (Prime Minister Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises) aimed at livelihoods.
- Filling vacant Multilingual Education (MLE) teacher posts: Immediate filling of vacant primary school teacher posts for Koya, Didayi, and Bonda tribal languages by School & Mass Education Department.
