Bhubaneswar: The demand for development is gaining momentum in one of the poorest areas of Odisha.
Tribal villagers from Odisha’s Kalahandi and Rayagada districts on August 3 gathered in the state capital of Bhubaneswar to demand development and employment. They said they are fed up with malnutrition, malaria and Maoist menace.
They also vent their anger against NGOs, who they said, time and again discouraged them from seeking development in the region.
At a peaceful protest near the Governor House, they sought basic facilities such as health education, infrastructure and employment.
The protesters said their people are severely affected by the absence of infrastructural setups such as roads and irrigational structures and lack of schools and hospitals in their villages. This has led to much discontent and helplessness, indiacsr.in reports.
The scope for employment remains bleak as education and skill development are literally nonexistent in their remote villages.
They also said they had for years heeded NGOs to oppose industry in their region. However, things have not improved much for them..
NGOs “have constantly led us to believe that industries are bad for us. We believed them for a long time but now, it has got us nowhere,” said Parmanand Majhi, president of the forum for the Kalahandi tribals and Dalits.
Linga Majhi, a resident of Rengopalli village near Lanjigarh, lamented that their children have lost job opportunities since they had no education. “Where are they when we need jobs? They have nothing to offer other than false promises,” he added.
Ajay Mishra, convener of the Kalahandi Development Forum, said the NGOs’s influence in the region has waned over the years. “The villagers who have been living in fear, have mustered courage to speak out against it due to the efforts of the police in Rayagada and Kalahandi.”