BJP targets Odisha government over rise in crimes against SCs and STs

BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Tuesday slammed the BJD government over rise in crimes against scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) in the State. The accusation of State BJP president Samir Mohanty came in the backdrop of recent bomb attack on Keonjhar MLA and Opposition chief whip in Assembly Mohan Majhi and discourtesy shown to Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu by State government officials. 

The number of crimes against STs in Odisha was the fourth highest in the country in 2020 with 624 cases, a rise of 8.33 per cent from 2019. In the case of the SCs, there were 2,046 incidents of atrocities in 2020, a rise of 8.48 per cent from the previous year, Mohanty said quoting the figure from NCRB report.

There were 114 cases of rape, the fifth highest in the country under ST category, which has a population of 95.9 lakh in the State as per the 2011 census. Though 564 persons were arrested and chargesheets submitted in 575 cases, not a single person has yet been convicted. 

He said several basic problems of the STs remain unresolved as the Tribal Advisory Committee headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has not met for over four years.  The BJP president said the State government has demonstrated its anti-tribal attitude by not implementing the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in the scheduled areas.