The members of Sundargarh Zila Bisthapita Vikash Parishad took out a rally from Sarana Chowk to the ADM office and submitted an eleven-point charter of demands for the Prime Minister to the ADM, seeking solution to their problems soon.
The Parishad members argued that between 1955 and 1976 about 33,000 acres of land were acquired for the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and the Mandira Dam out of which 14,000 acres which remained unused were returned to the State Government by the RSP. But surprisingly, instead of returning the land to the displaced families, the State Government has been allotting the same to others to develop housing projects and business establishments.
Stating that the allotment of land is unjust, they urged immediate cancellation of the leases and return of 307 acres of land to Chhend Bankia inhabitants and 171 acres to Jhirpani inhabitants soon. Besides, they claimed that since Sundargarh is a scheduled area, the Government unilaterally taking a decision to upgrade Rourkela Municipality to Corporation and implement Commissionerate of Police for Rourkela ignoring the tribals, amounts to violation of PESA. The rally was led by Jhaga Tirkey.