Cong protests delay in amendment to act on SC, ST reservation

Dubbing the ruling BJD as "anti-tribal and -dalit," the opposition Congress today walked out of the Assembly protesting the delay in amendment of the Orissa Reservation of Vacancies Act, 1975.
"The state government has been cheating the tribal and dalit communities by making assurance in the House that it will amend the ORV Act in order to keep proper reservation for the categories," Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh said before walking out of the House, along with his party MLAs.
While participating in an adjournment motion, Singh said, "It is unfortunate that the state government is delaying the amendment of the ORV Act."

Though the amended bill was introduced in the House, it had not been passed since more than a year, he said, adding that it showed the attitude of the BJD government towards the tribals and dalits.
While replying to an adjournment debate, ST and SC Development Minister L B Himirika said the amendment was under consideration of the select committee. The committee has already made some recommendations and it is under consideration of the Law department. "As soon as the Law department clears the recommendations, we will bring the amended Bill," Himirika said.
Initiating the debate, senior Congress member Chakradhar Paik criticised the state government for not passing the bill for the amended ORV Act. "The government has been giving assurances to amend the ORV Act for long. But no action is being taken even as BJD has been in power for about 13 years," Paik alleged.