Post News Network
Keonjhar, April 1: The district administration is allegedly not providing land rights to over 5,000 tribals and forest dwellers, who have been living in various parts of Tana panchayat under Bansapani block for generations.
Peeved over being deliberately denied their rightful entitlements, scores of tribals accused the administration of misleading them, on the plea that the lands they have been living on are ‘Parbat’ category, not forest land.
The tribals expressed their displeasure on this issue at a public grievances cell of the district collector Wednesday. In a written complaint, they have urged the administration to grant their land rights, irrespective of the category of the land.
Over 5,000 tribals are residing in several revenue villages like Tana, Timiri, Talagundula, Upara Gundula, Tala Imiri, Upara Imiri, Gobindpur, Tala Irida, Upara Irida, Munda Topa, Benidihi and two other hamlets.
In the complaint, they stated that they had applied for record of rights of the land in 2004, but the administration has not initiated any step to give them the same. The tribals alleged that their applications remained dumped at panchayat office for several months. As nothing was done to their applications, the tribals had to apply at the block level.
They lamented that their forefathers had been living on the land for centuries. They sought to know why they are being denied their rights on their dwellings while the administration is meting out injustice to them. They also raised question why the government is not giving lands belonging to categories like Parbat-1, Parbat-2, Parbat-3, forest and reserve forest, to their ownership.
They have to face a lot of problems when they do not have pattas of the land where they have been living. Residential certificates, which are required for education, scholarship and other purposes of their children, are not available without land records, they pointed out. When contacted, additional district magistrate (ADM) Sangram Keshari Swain said the tribals’ demands will be taken into consideration and steps will be taken accordingly.