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Bhubaneswar, Jan 19: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) Friday said it will work to ensure proper rehabilitation of tribals to be affected by the Polavaram irrigation project. The commission made the statement in the light of Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram’s remarks regarding the eviction of tribals to be affected by the project.
The five-member panel led by chairperson Nand Kumar Sai, which completed its four-day tour of the state Friday, also met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and held discussions with government officials.
At the meeting, the Chief Minister sought the commission to protect the 5,000-odd tribals in Malkangiri district who are to be affected by the project from its ill effects on their livelihood.
Sai later told reporters that the affected tribals should not be displaced without first ensuring that they can be properly rehabil
itated. “On the Polavaram issue, I had written to the Prime Minister and requested him not to
displace the poor tribals, who depend on the land for their livelihood until there is an alternative arrangement,” he said.
The NCST chairperson said he was aware of the statement made by the tribal affairs minister that no tribal family from Orissa will be affected by the Polavaram project if the state government constructed an embankment to check flow of water into its border area.
He said: “Since there is confusion regarding the impact of the project, I will take the matter up with the authorities concerned at
the Centre. If needed, the commission may also send a fact-finding team to the project site for physical verification.”
This issue has been created a war between state and Centre. While state government accused the Centre of adopting double standard on Polavaram, the Union minister said ruling BJD is politicising the issue.
The chairperson also requested the state government to return unutilised land (about 5,000 acres) acquired for the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) during 1953-54 to the tribals. “The RSP has already returned the land to the state government,” he said.
The commission expressed satisfaction with the disbursal of individual titles to tribals under the Forest Rights Act and urged the government to improve its performance in settlement of community rights.
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