Keonjhar: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) from the Keonjhar District Collector on the deplorable quality of life of rural populace in the district, who are deprived of basic education, healthcare, employment, and essential amenities.
Acting on a petition filed by human rights activist and Supreme Court lawyer Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC passed the order, highlighting the precarious living conditions and deprivation faced by residents in 781 villages across the district. Tripathy stated that although Keonjhar generates substantial revenue for the state, its people continue to live in abject poverty. The northern district holds vast reserves of iron ore, chromite, limestone, dolomite, nickel, and granite.
According to District Mineral Foundation (DMF) reports, Keonjhar has an estimated 2,555 million tonnes of iron ore reserves, expected to last for another 60 years at the current extraction rate of 55 million tonnes annually.
Despite the district’s mineral wealth, the tribal (44.5%) and Scheduled Caste (11.62%) populations face ongoing political, social, cultural, economic, and environmental marginalisation. Mining companies, Tripathy contended, continue to accumulate wealth by displacing and neglecting these vulnerable communities.
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Citing a baseline survey, Tripathy pointed out that 94.1% of households are below the poverty line, and 58.4% live in mud houses. Although substantial development funds are made available to district authorities, poor utilisation has resulted in widespread deprivation.
The failure to develop road infrastructure has exacerbated poverty, malnutrition, and social exclusion in tribal areas. Tripathy noted that there is no shortage of resources or funds for social and economic development. Proper utilisation and equitable distribution of DMF funds could eradicate hunger, poverty, and homelessness while establishing world-class infrastructure in health, education, transport, and communication, transforming the lives of people across 2,137 villages and 297 gram panchayats.
Based on international calculations, if DMF funds are disbursed appropriately, each village in Keonjhar could receive Rs5.46 crore, and each gram panchayat could get Rs39.34 crore, the petition argued.
Tripathy further criticised successive state governments for approaching mineral-rich districts like Keonjhar with a rent-seeking, colonial mindset—extracting wealth without addressing the welfare of the local population. He labelled this neglect as a result of visionless leadership that treats politics as a means of personal enrichment. He urged the NHRC to initiate an urgent reassessment of the quality of life of tribal communities in Keonjhar and to explore the role of education in improving these conditions. He also recommended the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven accessibility audits to improve planning and execution processes. These audits, he said, could help identify infrastructure gaps in real time using sensor networks and computer vision systems.
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“The commission is of the considered view that the allegations levelled in the complaint are serious violations of the human rights of the victims. Accordingly, the registry is directed to send a copy of the complaint to the District Magistrate-cum-Collector, Keonjhar, Odisha, to examine the matter and submit a report expeditiously within a period of 15 days, treating the matter as very urgent,” the NHRC stated in its order.
As per DMF Keonjhar, a total of Rs 11,684 crore has been collected cumulatively. In the 2023–24 financial year alone, Rs1,731 crore was collected, compared with Rs580 crore in 2014–15. As per constitutional provisions, these funds are intended for the welfare of local communities, particularly those affected by mining-related industrialisation.
PNN
