Kotia Tribals Peeved At Inter-Departmental Panel’s Casual Visit

Koraput: The tribals of Kotia Panchayat of Pottangi Tehsil in Odisha’s Koraput district have expressed resentment over the casual visit of the 4-member inter-departmental committee on Friday.

“The team after reaching Kotia Panchayat did not meet any people. Instead, they asked us to come to Koraput district headquarters in the evening to redress our grievances. Since the district headquarters is about 70 km from Kotia, the tribals have outright refused to travel such a long distance as there is no transport facility. What’s the use if I go alone to Koraput?” said Kamesh Gemel, headman of Kotia village.

The highhandedness of the committee members has deeply the hurt the Kotia tribals as they said if the Odisha government fails to meet our demands, we will decide our future course of action.

While there is no response from any district officials and committee members to the reaction of the Kotia tribals, Koraput BJD MLA and Koraput District Planning Board Chairman Prafulla Pangi, who had accompanied the committee to Kotia panchayat, has claimed that the committee has interacted with the people.

Taking a dig at the callous attitude of the visiting team, BJP leader Jayaram Pangi said it clearly reflects the sincerity and concern of the Odisha government for the Kotia Panchayat.

“The only way to save Kotia from the clutch of Andhra Pradesh government is demonstration. Under no circumstances we would allow the neighbouring government to take away Kotia from Odisha,” he maintained.

It may be recalled that following the reports on the illegal activities of the Andhra Pradesh government, the Odisha government had directed the Revenue Department to form an inter-department committee comprising of four members that would visit Kotia and assess the ground zero situation there.

Acting on the directive, the Revenue Department had formed a four-member inter-departmental committee with IG Sanjib Panda, Director, Revenue (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Ashok Kumar Nayak, Additional Secretary, Revenue Sashadhar Nayak and Chief Engineer, Rural Development Ashutosh Mallick as members.

The team was asked to visit Kotia panchayat and take stock of the activities of the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh government like illegal construction of road in the panchayat and distribution of Aadhar Card and other articles to the people.

Besides, the team was scheduled to visit several villages of the panchayat and hold discussion with the villagers and submit a report to the state government after discussion with the district administration.

Out of 28 villages in Kotia gram panchayat, 21 villages are on disputed zone between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh since 1956. However, the Supreme Court had ordered status quo in 2006.

The Odisha government came to know about the intrusion of Andhra Pradesh government in Kotia Panchayat in January this year after the visit of a team of officials from Vizianagaram district who had distributed articles like blankets, solar lights and old age pensions in Talaganjeipadar area. Later, the Andhra Pradesh government distributed Aadhar cards to Kotia villagers by setting up an enrollment centre at the panchayat.