The State Assembly on Wednesday witnessed frequent adjournments as Opposition members created a ruckus alleging violation of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in the inclusion of two tribal-dominated gram panchayats in the newly-formed Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC).
Congress members Prafulla Majhi and Jogesh Kumar Singh raised the issue as soon as the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am. They went straight to the Well of the House and staged dharna against the alleged violation of the PESA Act, 1996. They alleged that the State Government had merged two gram panchayats in the newly formed RMC without consulting with the tribal residents of the area. They, however, withdrew their dharna on Speaker Niranjan Pujari's request after a few minutes.
Congress legislators, however, again rushed to the Well as soon as the Question Hour ended demanding exclusion of the two gram panchayats from the RMC. "The State Government notification on the formation of RMC is a clear violation of the provisions of the PESA Act as it included the tribal panchayats without holing any gram sabha or palli sabha," said Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati.
Senior Congress Member Prafulla Majhi said, "As per provision, the Government must take views of the tribal people before including their areas under the RMC jurisdiction. They should conduct gram sabha and take people's opinion whether they want to be part of the corporation."
leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra alleged that the Government used police force against tribals who opposed its notification indicating inclusion of two tribal dominated gram panchayats in the RMC area. He demanded discussion on an adjournment motion given by his party earlier in this regard.
As the Speaker stated that the Adjournment Motion was still under his examination, Congress members again rushed into the Well shouting slogans. The Speaker then adjourned the House for second time from 12.31 to 3 pm.