Bhubaneswar, April 9 (IANS) The Odisha Congress on Thursday constituted a 13-member fact-finding committee to investigate alleged police excesses against displaced people protesting against construction work by a private company at Sijimali in Rayagada district.​

As per the instructions of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das, a committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Koraput MP and AICC in-charge for the northeastern states—Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, and Nagaland—Saptagiri Ulaka. The team will visit Sijimali on Friday and submit its inquiry report at the OPCC office.​

“While the displaced people were protesting at Sijimali in Rayagada district to press for the fulfilment of their demands, the act of repression carried out by the police is highly condemnable. The Congress party will continue its efforts until justice is delivered to them. To enquire into the incident, OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das has constituted a fact-finding committee,” reads an office order.​

The party also alleged that the way the police have suppressed the protests of displaced people at Sijimali in Rayagada district, while they were peacefully pressing for their demands, is deeply reprehensible. Such actions not only undermine democratic rights but also silence the voices of vulnerable communities who are seeking justice.​

The Congress party further said that whenever mineral extraction or industrialisation has taken place in Odisha, neither the government nor the administration has shown the will and sincerity to address the issue of displacement effectively.​

Owing to the persistent insensitivity of successive governments and administrations towards affected people, the displaced have been denied justice. Since the government itself is involved in illegal mineral extraction, legal provisions under the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), are not enforced in any project in the state. ​

Referring to several past movements led by Congress safeguarding the rights of displaced persons in Odisha, the party claimed that in every instance, it is the project-affected people who suffer the losses, while Congress has consistently fought for their interests and secured results.​

Notably, violence broke out between police and tribal residents in Odisha’s Rayagada district on Tuesday during a confrontation over a road being built in connection with the Sijimali bauxite reserve, injuring over 60 people, including about 40 police personnel.

The locals have been protesting against the proposed bauxite project for the past few years.​

–IANS

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