By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: The demand by Odisha’s Konda Reddy community seeking inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes got a boost with union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh urging Tribal Affairs minister V.Kishore Chandra Deo to resolve the issue at the earliest.
In a letter to Deo Monday – a copy of which is with IANS, Ramesh asked him to immediately call a meeting of National Commission of Scheduled Tribes and the Registrar General of India (RGI) very soon to resolve “this long-pending issue at the earliest”.
About 25,000 people of the community live in the southern district of Odisha’s Malkangiri while another one lakh of them stay across the border in Andhra Pradesh.
Citing his meeting with people of the community during his visit to Odisha, Ramesh, in his letter, said the southern parts of Odisha were part of erstwhile Madras presidency and at that time the community was recognized as tribal community.
While in Andhra Pradesh, the Konda Reddys are recognized as a tribal community, they do not have the same status in Odisha, he said.
“The Maoists have taken advantage of these grievances and built a strong base in the area. We have to address this problem at the earliest” he said in the letter.