layman's space

NO RELIEF FROM OPPRESSIVE ANTI-MAOIST FORCES Monday, 03 March 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar         0 The Army personnel came to our village at 5 am  on February 24 and started beating us mercilessly without any reason. They also abused us in vulgar language and defiled our kitchens, which is a violation of our tradition...,” read a complaint letter of the Chakotia Bhunjia tribal  people of Jalmadei village in the Maoist-ridden  Sunabeda plateau. The Chakotia Bhunjias are one of the primitive vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) of Odisha. The complaint was submitted to the Nuapada SP on Wednesday last. More than 60 people of the village, who are the victims of brutality of the anti-Maoist forces deployed in the Sunabeda plateau, had arrived at the district headquarters to express their grievance before the district administration. Later, sharing their woes with the mediapersons, the tribal villagers narrated how the...

N’PADA REMOTE HAMLET WHERE GOVT DOLES A FAR CRY Tuesday, 18 February 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar         0 Ratni and Bunu, two small children of remote Khadang village in Nuapada district, were having lunch with their mother in front of their house.The food consisted of only rice mixed with water. There was no curry. Nor was anything added to the rice, not even salt. Ehen asked what curry they were taking; their answer was “Abgi” which means “simply rice.”Further, they revealed that they had not eaten curry for more than a month. There are over 100 such people in Khadang village for whom curry is not their cup of tea. Rice is affordable because it is available for `1 per kg, but curry is unthinkable, given the high prices of vegetables. The only source of income for the people of Khadang, which is located in the Sunabeda plateau bordering Chhatishgarh, is bamboo basket weaving. These poor basket weavers belong to a triba...

N’PADA REMOTE HAMLET WHERE GOVT DOLES A FAR CRY Tuesday, 18 February 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 0 Ratni and Bunu, two small children of remote Khadang village in Nuapada district, were having lunch with their mother in front of their house.The food consisted of only rice mixed with water. There was no curry. Nor was anything added to the rice, not even salt. Ehen asked what curry they were taking; their answer was “Abgi” which means “simply rice.”Further, they revealed that they had not eaten curry for more than a month. There are over 100 such people in Khadang village for whom curry is not their cup of tea. Rice is affordable because it is available for `1 per kg, but curry is unthinkable, given the high prices of vegetables. The only source of income for the people of Khadang, which is located in the Sunabeda plateau bordering Chhatishgarh, is bamboo basket weaving. These poor basket weavers belong to a tribal commun...

STATE NEEDS TO SEND PROPOSAL AFRESH, SAYS UNION SECY Wednesday, 05 February 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 0 Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs Secretary Dr Hrushikesh Panda conducted a meeting with the Government officials on his one-day visit here on Monday. Panda reviewed various development programmes undertaken in the district for the development of tribals, especially in the Maoist affected belt of the district. “Don’t introduce hybrid crops like paddy and maize in tribal areas like Sunabeda,” instructed Panda to the agriculture officials present in the meeting. He advised the officials to take up programmes which are sustainable in nature and warned against high use of chemical fertilizers like nitrogen in cultivation of maize and hybrid paddy. Discussing on livestock development programme in the district, Panda told that the officials should be careful while upgrading the species of cattle by artificial insemination. He...

TRIBAL STATUS FOR PAHARIAS STILL A WILD GOOSE CHASE Thursday, 23 January 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 0 The Paharias or Kamars are one of the primitive vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in Chhattisgarh and MP, but in Odisha they are considered to be non-tribals. The Tribes Advisory Council (TAC), under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recommended for Scheduled Tribe status to the Paharia tribe, but the issue is pending with the Central Government for more than last 10 years. This has spread resentment among the Paharias, who have threatened to boycott the forthcoming elections unless they are accorded the status at a State-level convention at Bargaon village of Nuapada district. Over 1,500 Paharia representatives attended the convention to discuss about their problems and suggest an action plan to the Government for their development. The prominent of all issues as expressed by most of the participants o...

N’PADA SICK LABOURER FORCED TO WORK IN UP KILN DIES Wednesday, 08 January 2014 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 0 Dayabati Tandi of Sadhu Pandripani village of Nuapada district had taken an advance of `51,000 in three installments from labour contractor Bhima Sahu of Jenjra village to meet the cost of marriage of her younger son Premlal. She had pledged to work in a brick kiln in UP  along with the newly married son and other family members after 15 days of the marriage.  However, the contractor came to the house of Dayabati after four days of the marriage on December 16 and asked the family members to go with him. Premlal was suffering from fever and was not in a condition to move. But the contractor forced them to start the journey. “We pleaded before the contractor to give us some time, but he did not listen to us,” lamented Dayabati. All of them instantly had to move with the contractor to the nearest railway station...