Displaced people allege foul play in Orissa RR policy

Bhubaneswar, May 30 (UNI) Displaced people of various projects in Orissa today expressed their strong resentment and dismay over the lopsided and faulty rehabilitation strategy adopted by the state government over the years.

Narrating their first hand account of the problems encountered during the displacement and subsequent rehabilitation, the people, mostly the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe, put all the blame to the apathetic attitude of all the successive governments in the state.

The participants were deliberating at a state level convention on the burning issue of Displacement and rehabilitation strategy, organised by the National Institute of Social Work and Social Science (NISWAS).

Laxman Jamunda, a displaced person from Kalinga Nagar Complex which witnessed violence on January 2 last leading to death of 13 tribals in police firing, alleged that the government and the various companies had ignored the rules and regulations while displacing the people from their home land.

He regretted that the government has branded the tribals fighting for their livelihood as Maoists and booked them under false charges to suppress the agitation.

Mr Jamunda said people in all 134 villages in Kalinga Nagar have rejected the new RR policy of the government and decided to rather sacrifice their lives but not leave their land for the project.

Kolab Project oustee Arjun Naik said 500 families displaced by the project in 1985 were paid a meager amount of Rs 200 per acre of their land and forced to rehabilitate in the reserve forest areas of Malkangiri where the forest and revenue officials harassed them.

The oustees, he said, were uncertain about their future after losing everything and had extended their support to the Naxalites who had come to their rescue.

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