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Move to vacate tribals from cashew plantation areas deplored

Correspondent

KORAPUT: Dangar Adhikar Samiti of Koraput district has asked the government to abstain from using force on tribals of Machkund region. Sania Sisa, president of the samiti, has reacted sharply to the decision taken by the State government to use police force to evacuate tribals from the cashew plantation area within a month.

Challenging the move to declare the possession of tribals on the cashew plantation areas as encroachment, he said the government was violating the norms of PESA, which was applicable in the undivided Koraput district where no decision of transfer of land was permissible without the acceptance of the proposal by Palli Sabha or Gramsabha. And no such process was adopted to acquire the land.

The plantation was done by the soil conservation department to check soil erosion in big dam areas like Machkund, Kolab, Chitrokunda and Indravati dam area. Further the plantation was taken up on a massive scale under different poverty elevation schemes. The intention was that the local community would keep a watch on the plantation and would become the owners of that once the government distributes tree pattas to beneficiaries, he said.

But, when the trees bear fruits, the department, allegedly had earned profit by harvesting the crop that was protected by the community.

Long struggle

Things had got worsened from 1975 when the State government created Cashew Development Corporation and Soil Conservation Department was asked to hand over the plantation area to the corporation, he said.

After a long struggle by tribals of the region, the Tahsildar of Machkund had given 1500 families tree pattas in these cashew plantation areas.

But, surprisingly the same land was auctioned to another party by the corporation, he said alleging that the State government was taking away the legitimate rights of poor tribals depriving them of their basic source of livelihood to favour the corporation.

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