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As several bail petitions were filed in different courts of Orissa on Monday for the release of suspected Maoists in the wake of the demands made by the Maoists for release of abducted Malkangiri Collector R. Vineel Krishna and Junior Engineer Pabitra Majhi, the State government continued negotiations with the mediators on the major demands that include release of at least seven suspected Maoists hailing from Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and other States.
However, eight of the 14 demands were accepted by the State government, or “resolved,” as Home Secretary U.N. Behera told journalists at the end of the second day of the ongoing negotiations.
One of the demands accepted included issuance of land pattas to the tribals of Koraput and Malkangiri districts, where tribal land had been occupied by others. The Narayanpatna area in Koraput where thousands of tribals have been agitating for restoration of rights over their land will be covered under the initiative, Mr. Behera said.
“The State government is alive to the need of protecting the land rights of the tribal people in Scheduled areas,” he said.
“Now it has been decided that officials of the level of Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary, with statutory powers under the land laws, will be posted in Koraput and Malkangiri districts to expeditiously dispose of cases pertaining to land rights of the tribals.”
Further, the government agreed to constitute a high level committee under a senior officer to make recommendations on different measures for effective and expeditious restoration of rights on land to the tribal people in Scheduled areas, he said.
The government also agreed to continue its efforts and pursue the matter before the Central government, with regard to the issue of grant of Scheduled Tribe status to members of the Konda Reddy and Muka Dora communities.
The government also agreed to increase irrigation cover in different areas in Malkangiri district for extension of canals and by putting up minor irrigation projects and lift irrigation points.
Further, the government assured the mediators that it would write to the Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand governments to take necessary measures for the release of two Central Committee members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) – Sheela Didi who is lodged in Chhattisgarh and Padma who is in jail in Jharkhand. Both were reportedly ailing.
Free Collector: NHRC
New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:
Even as Mr. Vineel Krishna and Mr. Pabitra Majhi spent their sixth day in captivity, the National Human Rights Commission appealed to Maoists to release them immediately.
However, eight of the 14 demands were accepted by the State government, or “resolved,” as Home Secretary U.N. Behera told journalists at the end of the second day of the ongoing negotiations.
One of the demands accepted included issuance of land pattas to the tribals of Koraput and Malkangiri districts, where tribal land had been occupied by others. The Narayanpatna area in Koraput where thousands of tribals have been agitating for restoration of rights over their land will be covered under the initiative, Mr. Behera said.
“The State government is alive to the need of protecting the land rights of the tribal people in Scheduled areas,” he said.
“Now it has been decided that officials of the level of Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary, with statutory powers under the land laws, will be posted in Koraput and Malkangiri districts to expeditiously dispose of cases pertaining to land rights of the tribals.”
Further, the government agreed to constitute a high level committee under a senior officer to make recommendations on different measures for effective and expeditious restoration of rights on land to the tribal people in Scheduled areas, he said.
The government also agreed to continue its efforts and pursue the matter before the Central government, with regard to the issue of grant of Scheduled Tribe status to members of the Konda Reddy and Muka Dora communities.
The government also agreed to increase irrigation cover in different areas in Malkangiri district for extension of canals and by putting up minor irrigation projects and lift irrigation points.
Further, the government assured the mediators that it would write to the Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand governments to take necessary measures for the release of two Central Committee members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) – Sheela Didi who is lodged in Chhattisgarh and Padma who is in jail in Jharkhand. Both were reportedly ailing.
Free Collector: NHRC
New Delhi Special Correspondent writes:
Even as Mr. Vineel Krishna and Mr. Pabitra Majhi spent their sixth day in captivity, the National Human Rights Commission appealed to Maoists to release them immediately.