Special development councils is move to woo tribals: Union Minister Jual Oram

BHUBANESWAR: A day after the launch of Special Development Councils (SDCs) for 9 tribal districts of the State by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said this is a move to win over the confidence of tribals who have rejected the ruling BJD in the last panchayat elections.

“The BJD had performed very poorly in 117 blocks of 9 tribal-dominated districts covered under the Special Development Council in the last panchayati elections. Now, the ruling party is trying to gain political benefits through these councils,” remarked Oram.

Dubbing the formation of SDCs as a politically motivated move, Oram sought to know what purpose these councils will serve when there are elected representatives from panchayat to Zilla Parishad. The State Government has failed to empower the panchayati raj institutions fully by transferring funds, functions and functionaries as enshrined in the constitutions.

“Will the SDCs act by bypassing the elected panchayati raj institutions? This is nothing but mockery of the democracy,” Oram said.

Lambasting the State Government for its failure to utilise financial assistance given by the Central Government for undertaking various tribal development initiatives, Oram said, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has provided `573.21 crore Special Central Assistance under tribal sub plan (TSP) and  `531.25 crore under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution. However, the funds allocated under specific head have not been utilised properly, he added.

The sincerity of the State Government towards tribal welfare could be enumerated from the fact that 16 model schools sanctioned by the Centre since 2010-11 are yet to be established. The Union Minister further sought to know as to from where the State Government will sources `175.50 crore as it has not made any budgetary provision for the SDCs.

Criticising the State Government, senior BJP leader and president of Odisha BJP Adivasi Morcha and MLA Rabi Nayak said this is another attempt by the BJD to rehabilitate disgruntled party workers in the SDCs. The ruling party could have done this much earlier if it was really concerned for the development of tribals. Realisation of tribal welfare dawned on the Government when it found that the tribals are no more with them, he added.

While a large number of tribals are still waiting for records of right for the land which are under their possession for generations, the Basundara Scheme (providing 4 decimal of homestead land to landless families) has been a utter failure. The Chief Minister should tell the tribal people when his Government is going provide minimum support price for all minor forest produce, he said.

Responding to Oram, Minister for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development Ramesh Majhi said the State Government has enough resources for the development of tribals. The BJP should not trivialise the State Government’s initiative which has been dubbed as a historic move. “We are not asking the Centre for any help. We will arrange funds for the Special Development Councils from our own resources,” Majhi retorted.