: The Paharia-Kamar people of Odisha living in remote areas of the State like the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary have been deprived of their inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Odisha although their kith and kin in neighbouring Chhattisgarh are enlisted as one of the Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG). This exclusion has caused denial of rights and all Government benefits to them as a tribe, said environmental activist Prafulla Samantara of Lokashakti Abhiyan in a Press Meet at Khariar. 
 
Samantara visited the remote Paharia habitations of Sunabeda sanctuary on Monday. "It is unfortunate that none of Paharia households in the district has been allotted entitlement under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.  They have neither been allotted Individual Forest Right (IFR) nor Community Forest Rights (CFR) although they have been living in that area for centuries and are entitled to such rights as the Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD)," he added.
 
Samantara demanded that the Paharias be given land rights under the FRA immediately which will be a great step towards assuring their livelihood.
 
Samantara further stated that granting tribal status to the Paharias is a long standing issue. The Tribes Advisory Committee, Odisha, had recommended for the tribe’s inclusion in 2004. All formalities like research work by SC/ST Research and Training Institute, Bhubaneswar, and recommendation of the National Commission for ST had been completed.
 
A High Power Committee headed by the then Secretary of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Dr Hrushikesh Panda in 2014 had also recommended the inclusion of Paharias in the list of ST in Odisha. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs in 2017 answering to an RTI query posed by one late Sukal Sai Paharia, a youth leader of Paharia community, stated that the proposal for inclusion in ST list of Odisha had been processed as per existing modalities and referred to the Registrar General of India (RGI).
 
As per the RTI information, the comments and observations of the RGI were sent to the State Government of Odisha for further comments/justification; however, requisite comments/justifications are still awaited from the State Government.
 
 "Both the State and Central Governments are responsible for the delay. Why have the MLAs and MPs not raised any question on the issue? The Odisha Government is supporting the Centre in passing bills in Parliament but why is it not pushing the Centre to pass a bill for amendment in the ST constitutional order for including Paharia-Kamar in ST list of Odisha," Samantara asked.
 
Samantara also raised other issues like closure of primary schools in remote villages, denial of food grains under NFSS due to lack of Aadhaar linkage etc. "Some people are left out of the benefits under NFSS on Aadhaar linkage ground although the Orissa High Court had issued that no one would be deprived of food grains under the food security scheme on such ground," he remarked. He also demanded the establishment of a high school in Sunabeda to strengthen education.