The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) on Saturdayexpressed its satisfaction over the follow-up action taken by the State Government on the death of five villagers of Gumudumaha in Kandhamal district during an anti-Maoist operation in the Malapanga forest on July 8 night.
“In its report, the NCST had observed that the incident was not justified. Acting on the report, the Odisha Government had constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has already completed one and a-half-month of its investigation so far. The Commission will review the SIT report thoroughly,” NCST Chairman Rameswar Oraon told reporters after a meeting with Chief Secretary AP Padhi at the State Secretariat here.
Oraon too expressed satisfaction over the action taken by the State Government after the incident.
“I must say that the State Government has made satisfactory progress in the action it has taken after the shocking incident,” he pointed out.
Talking about the death of 19 children of Juang tribal community in Nagada village in Jajpur district due to malnutrition, Oraon said this is not the only case in the country. Such incidents have been reported from other States as well, he said,
“I told the Chief Secretary that the Centre has taken up the matter seriously and will make sincere efforts to ensure that no such incidents happen in future,” he said.