Bhubaneswar: Around 20 tribal families of Kumundi village in Ganjam district Monday registered a complaint with the Odisha Human Rights Commission seeking immediate action against the forest officials who had demolished their houses using JCB machines and burnt them April 21. The families had been staying on forest land near the village for generations.
The poor tribals have now taken shelter in makeshift homes constructed after the demolition. According to the complaint, some forest officials led by the Ranger of Sorada block, the forester and other officers came and threw away their household articles. Later, they set the houses of the 12 families on fire. They asked the tribals to leave the place immediately or they would face dire consequences.
They also alleged that around 40 forest staffers reached the place and assaulted them with bamboo sticks. Many tribals suffered serious injuries. The officers also allegedly beat up guests present there at that time. They also filed false cases against the tribal families with the Sorada police station.
The police have not registered a case even though a complaint was filed by the tribal families.
The tribal families said that they were not encroachers and have valid Aadhaar cards. They had applied for land under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, but it had no effect.
Pradipta Nayak, a city-based Human Rights activist, also filed a complaint with the commission saying that the families belong to the Saura tribe which is among the 12 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG). The classification was made by the Government of India in order to improve their standards of living as they were extremely poor.
