‘Atrocities on SCs, STs rising in Odisha’

BHUBANESWAR: Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, on Thursday expressed concern at increasing atrocities on the state’s scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) people. He urged chief minister Naveen Patnaik to look into the matter.
He said Odisha reported 3,115 atrocity cases in 2022-23. “It is not a good sign for a state to report a huge number of atrocity cases,” Athawale said, hoping that the chief minister will try to redress the problem. “The chief minister is our good friend. He was a Union minister in the NDA government. Though he is not in NDA now, his party MPs support us in Parliament during the passage of bills. I know him very well. I request him to take necessary steps to reduce the atrocity on dalits and adivasis,” he added.
He said inter-caste marriage should be promoted to bring society closer. Athawale said people including dalits and upper castes should stay united. “The conflict and misunderstanding between communities and castes should be ended. Naveen Patnaik is doing well as a chief minister. Hope he will help dalits in the state,” he added.