Sundargarh/Bargaon: Supporters of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act Monday ransacked a sponge iron factory and pulled down its boundary wall in Rajgangpur with the row between them and those against the Act snowballing into a major issue in the tribal dominated regions of Sundargarh district, a report said.
Patharagada Abhiyan, a campaign launched by PESA supporters, has now become a major headache for the district administration as development projects in several areas have been paralysed by the activists.
The violence is said to be the fallout of the death of a PESA supporter June 19 during a clash between pro and anti PESA supporters.
Meanwhile, police have arrested 52 PESA supporters of Barpali village. Two platoons of police led by Rajgangpur SDPO and IIC Pradip Jena have been keeping vigil on the situation.
DIG Kabita Jalan and Rourkela SP Umashankar Dash and Sundargarh ASP Rabi Narayan Barik also reached the spot.
On the other hand, some political leaders support the sovereign administration demand of the tribals through Patharagada Abhiyan while a few others termed it against the democratic setup of the country.
It may be noted that people of various tribal-dominated villages in Sundargarh district have planted stone plaques declaring prohibition of entry of other Indian citizens into the region. Their objective to run a parallel administration is strongly opposed by the non-tribals and Hindu tribals.
While many question the need and relevance of such a campaign, some local political leaders support it to resurrect their sinking careers, a report said.
The difference of opinion resulted in a clash at Gadaposh Chhak under Kutra block last Tuesday and a PESA supporter was killed. The tribals resorted to violence and blocked NH-10 protesting the death.
Locals also blamed some government employees for such a situation in the district.
While tribals have to run from pillar to post to get a small patch of land to have a house, people from outside the district and state manage to get acres of land by greasing the palms of revenue officials, it is alleged.
The non-tribals can also support the Patharagada campaign in future unless the administration confiscates the land grabbed by the people of other districts and states soon, a report said.
Many tribals fear that a time will come when most land of the district would be under the possession of outsiders and the locals would struggle to get shelter.
It is high time the government took action against the unscrupulous government officials and realise the resentment of the locals, said conscious citizens of the district.
PESA is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas. In 1996, the government passed an act known as Panchayat Extension to Schedule Areas (PESA).
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Patharagada Abhiyan
Pathargada (Pathalgarhi in Jharkhand) is a practice adopted by several tribal villages to declare their gram sabha as the only sovereign authority, rejecting the authority of Central or state government. Large-sized stone plaques — called Patharagada in the local parlance — have been put up outside tribal settlements warning visitors against entering, wandering, living or settling down in these villages.
PNN