Evicted Dalit Families in Distress Due to Ongoing OAS Strike

The ongoing agitation by Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) and Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) officers over the assault on Ratnakar Sahoo, Additional Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), has worsened the plight of nearly 16 evicted Dalit families in Jagatsinghpur district.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

These families have been living in deplorable conditions at a burial ground in Allipingal panchayat for the last six months, awaiting land documents essential for obtaining homestead land under the Vasundara scheme and receiving work orders for house construction under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

Despite interventions by the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and the Orissa High Court, delays persist.

Sources said nearly 35 officers, including tehsildars, BDOs, and other revenue officials, have proceeded on mass leave to express solidarity with the assaulted official and condemn the incident.

The 16 affected families had been residing for around 50 years on land near Allipingal High School, which was originally classified as Gochar (grazing) land. However, Ambika Prasad Mohanty later claimed ownership and filed a writ petition in the Orissa High Court seeking their eviction.