The Kui Samaj has written a letter to the Governor of Odisha seeking intervention to ensure fast disposal of thousands of cases on land disputes pending at the RDC, Brahmapur since long.
The Samaj has alleged that the land settlement operation was taken up rather in a very hurried manner ignoring the principles. Tribals in the Kandhamal Sub – Division are facing a lot of problems as their cases are still pending at the RCD Court for a long time. As land disputes are one of the other major issues in the last Kandhamal riots, the Government should take proactive measures for the land settlement, it said.
Immediately after the Kandhamal riot of 2008, the Government had set up the Court of Special Administrator, Kandhamal, with the appointment of a senior IAS officer at district headquarters to promptly deal with the land related disputes. It worked for a short span of time and in the year 2015 it was shifted and merged with the RDC, Brahmapur. Since then not a single case has been disposed of by the court, the forum alleged. The tribals are forced to spend a lot of money to file their cases through lawyers at the RDC, Brahmapur, the Samaj said and demanded quick disposal of land settlement cases at the RDC level or at the Court of Special Administrator by reopening it at district headquarters.
As the Kandhamal Sub-Division comes under the 5th Scheduled Area, the Kui Samaj is presenting their grievances before the Governor of Odisha, who is the Constitutional authority to protect and safeguard the interest and rights of tribals in Scheduled Areas.