The Water Initiative Odisha (WIO), a coalition of civil society organisations, farmers, academia and media working on water, environment and climate change issues, on Saturday welcomed Union Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Narayan Deo’s stand on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Vedanta over Niyamgiri mining.
It is to be noted here that on Thursday Deo questioned the MoU signed between OMC and Vedanta on Niyamgiri mining and said, "I think having MoU with Vedanta itself was wrong because it goes against the letter and spirit of both Article 244(1) and provisions of Schedule V (of the Constitution)." In an open letter to Deo, WIO convenor Ranjan Kumar Panda expressed gratitude to Deo on his contention.