Kendrapara: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has issued a notice to the Odisha Chief Secretary to ensure basic human rights and justice to the tribals living in more than 45 villages in Odisha bordering Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
The Apex Panel for Scheduled Tribal Rights took cognizance of the petition filed March 14 by Rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy and sought a detailed reply within 15 days.
Odisha has border disputes with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh over 64 villages, which include 22 in Koraput district, 21 in Ganjam district, 16 in Gajapati, and five in Rayagada.
Disputes over 21 of the total of 22 villages in the Koraput district could not be resolved as the Supreme Court had granted the status quo in March 2006.
Similarly, Odisha has border disputes with West Bengal in about 38 villages, including 35 in Balasore and the rest in the Mayurbhanj district.
At least five villages—Limitur, Purusottampur, Kankadapat, Jagannathpur, and Champua in Keonjhar district in the state have border disputes with Jharkhand.
The Odisha government admitted that the boundaries of over 100 villages at the state’s border could not be determined.
Alleging deprivation of basic human rights of the tribes living in the border areas due to the apathy, negligence, and attitude of the bordering states, Tripathy sought the intervention of the Commission for a permanent solution.
The Government of Odisha has no proper records of the disputed villages at its border as records and demarcation are yet to be done.
Tripathy urged the NCST to consider the matter seriously and get the investigation done in a timely manner so that the sacrosanct rights of every individual can be protected in the poverty-stricken SC, ST-dominated area of Odisha.
The petitioner earlier requested to ensure the franchise rights of the border villages strictly according to the Peoples Representation Act, as the same have also been violated due to border disputes.
He also requested the Commission to act on top priority to ensure the bare necessities of life and basic amenities to the border villages, along with the benefits of social welfare schemes.
Tripathy also urged the NCST to investigate the case in detail by a team of officials on the issues and direct the Chief Secretaries of the neighbouring states to resolve the issues at the earliest.
UNI