Left delegation demands ex gratia of Rs 50 lakh

A delegation of five Left parties today urged Odisha Governor S C Jamir to tell the state government to give Rs 50 lakh ex gratia to each of the families which lost their kin in the crossfire during the anti-Maoist operation in Kandhamal district.
Representatives from CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, SUCI and Forward Bloc submitted a memorandum on the killing of five "innocent" people in Kandhamal and death of 19 children due to malnutrition at Nagada village in Jajpur district.
Leaders of the five Left parties had earlier visited both Gumudumaha and Nagada in groups to take a stock of the condition of people there.

Asserting that "unarmed and innocent" villagers were killed by police in Gumudumaha village of Kandhamal, the Left parties urged Jamir to consider the plight of their families.
The delegation also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for family members of those injured in the police firing, a SIT probe under High Court monitoring and withdrawal of security forces from Kandhamal district.
"Police personnel who opened fire on innocent villagers should be booked under section 302 (punishment for murder) of IPC," CPI state secretary Dibakar Nayak said.

Five persons, including two women and a child, were killed and three others injured during an alleged encounter with Maoists on July 8.

While the security forces claimed the villagers died when their vehicle was caught in the crossfire, many survivors alleged the bullets were raining from one side, probably from the jawans.
On malnutrition death due to malnutrition, the delegation demanded that all Juang tribals families living on hill-top be provided with pucca houses and food security under the provision of NFSA.