CUTTACK: State govt has started the process for settlement of land in favour of residents of Adivasi Gaon in Salia Sahi in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) limits under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
The Khurda collector has directed the district welfare officer (DWO) “to take immediate action” for settlement of the land in favour of the villagers.
The direction was issued on December 29, 2023, after the scheduled tribe & scheduled caste development department asked the Khurda collector to initiate processing of the claims of residents of Adivasi Gaon treating it as “urgent” on November 29 last year. A grievance petition was received from the villagers on October 11.
Five Adivasi Gaon residents, meanwhile, filed a PIL in Orissa high court on January 18 seeking settlement of land in favour of the villagers within a stipulated period.
Acting on it, the single-judge bench of Justice K R Mohapatra on February 1 sought to know the state government’s stand on the PIL seeking settlement of land at Adivasi Gaon in favour of tribal people residing there for the past 50 years. Justice Mohapatra asked the state counsel to take instructions from the govt and listed the matter for further hearing on May 1.
Residents of Adivasi Gaon, which has nearly 800 households, are ST people who claimed they are living in the village for more than 50 years, with an Adivasi Gramya Unnayan Samiti registered on January 7, 1992.
The petitioners, represented through advocate Sankar Prasad Pani, contended the state authorities have the duty to constitute a ward committee in case of urban area and gram sabha for panchayat area in order to ascertain and verify the claims of tribal persons. “But the same has not been done as on date despite requests from the villagers of Adivasi Gaon,” the petition contended.
