Bhubaneswar, July 13: Yesterday the Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Dr Rameswar Oraon visited Kandhamal to inspect the ground level situation of the mishap occurred there. On reaching there he said that the Security Personnel failed to obey the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) during the anti-Maoist operation in Kandhamal District, which led to the tragic death of six innocent tribal. He further specified to the media that, there had been no intelligence input that the Maoists were moving in a vehicle; in fact the Security Personnel had the information that Maoists were moving on foot and the civilians were in the vehicle. In that case, why was there open fire at the vehicle which has the tribal in it and thus required action should be taken against the Security Personnel who opened fire at them.
He interacted with the concerned families for about three hours. He pointed out that he would be having a meeting in this connection with the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and the DGP in Bhubaneswar in the evening where the Commission will make an urge to find solutions and take necessary action accordingly so that such incidents are not repeated in the future. He shared deep condolence with the families of the deceased.
On being asked about the State Government’s decision to provide compensation of just Rs.7 lakh to each family instead of Rs.7.5 lakh thus going against the Central Guidelines, he answered that it’s up to the State Government but as per the Central Guideline the amount should be Rs.8.5 lakh. Replying to a question on the duration of the judicial probe and the probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) as announced by the state government, Oraon said that it is not a matter of concern as to who will be investigating the case, but it must be time bound as specified within 90 days.
He lastly apprised the State Government of the diversion of Tribal Sub Plan Fund sanctioned by the Centre for the backward districts. He also informed the government about the poor education system in this district having no teachers in some schools. There are also no road communication, electricity and drinking water facilities for the interior villages. Apart from this, there is a lack of basic amenities in some tribal villages in Kandhamal districts though both the Central and State Governments are committed to provide these amenities to the tribal of these villages on priority.
