January 1st 2025.
Bhubaneswar: The Tribal Advisory Council, which was recently formed, has declined a proposal from the previous BJD government to amend the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property Amendment Regulation. This proposal would have allowed tribals in scheduled areas to sell and mortgage their land to non-tribals. The Council, chaired by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, met for the first time on Tuesday and decided to explore other options for providing financial assistance to tribal people for important purposes such as marriage, higher education, and business ventures.
According to an official statement from the Chief Minister's Office, the proposal to amend the regulation was met with strong opposition from people across the state and was eventually withdrawn by the government on January 29, 2024. However, the Naveen Patnaik government did not completely reject the proposal. The idea was initially introduced in a TAC meeting on July 11, 2023 and was later approved by the state cabinet on November 14, 2023 when the BJD was in power.
The statement also mentioned that the TAC agreed to include the Mundari language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution. In the meeting held on Wednesday, the draft of the Odisha PESA rules was also discussed. During the state elections, the ruling BJP had promised to implement the PESA Act of 1996. However, further discussions are needed before finalizing the rules, as decided by the TAC.
To gather feedback on the proposed rules, a state-level workshop will be organized with the participation of tribal representatives from blocks, districts, and urban local bodies, as well as members of the legislative assembly, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha. The TAC, which was reconstituted by the BJP government in November, is chaired by the chief minister and has the minister for ST&SC Development as its vice-chairman. The council consists of 18 members, including 15 MLAs, two MPs, and a prominent tribal woman activist.
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