ST panel urges Centre, states to take policy action for displaced tribals

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has asked the Union Home Ministry and Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha to submit a detailed report on the status of the Gottikoya tribals, who were displaced from Chhattisgarh due to Maoist violence and are now reportedly living in neighbouring states in difficult conditions, excluded from social security benefits.

The Commission has requested the presence of the Home Ministry's secretary and the chief secretaries of the states concerned at a meeting scheduled for December 9 to discuss the issue, recommending a prompt policy decision to provide necessary support to the community.

In a letter sent to the ministry and the states on Friday, the Commission said it had received a petition in March 2022 stating that members of the Gottikoya community, who had relocated from Chhattisgarh to neighbouring states in 2005 to escape "violence between Maoist guerrillas and Indian security forces", have been facing significant challenges in their new locations.

According to tribal rights activists who have repeatedly raised the issue with the Commission and the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry, an estimated 50,000 tribals were displaced from Chhattisgarh due to Left-Wing Extremism. They now live in 248 settlements in the forests of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.

According to some reports, the Telangana government has taken back land from internally displaced persons (IDPs) in at least 75 settlements, jeopardising their livelihoods and increasing their vulnerability, the Commission said, citing the petition.

Some reports also allege that forest department officials demolished the homes of the IDPs and destroyed their crops.

On November 7, 2022, the Commission issued a notice to the district magistrate of Bhadradri Kothagudem in Telangana, seeking an action taken report or compliance report on the matter.

In a report submitted on September 9, 2023, the district magistrate denied the allegations against forest officials, arguing that the Gottikoyas were encroaching on forest land, impacting forest resources and causing "irreparable damage to the environment and ecological balance, which could lead to natural calamities".

The magistrate added that since all the Gottikoyas had migrated from Chhattisgarh, they do not qualify as Scheduled Tribes in Telangana and are, therefore, ineligible for forest rights in the state.

The Commission held a meeting with the district magistrate of Bhadradri Kothagudem on September 24 to discuss the matter in detail.

It recommended that the Union Home Affairs Ministry's secretary and the chief secretaries of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha be requested to attend a session before the Commission on December 9 and provide a comprehensive action taken report on the issue.

The Director of the Centre for Economic and Social Studies in Telangana, along with representatives from the Forest Department, has also been asked to present a report on surveys conducted in Gottikoya settlements in the state.

In July, the government informed Parliament that tribal families displaced from Chhattisgarh due to Left-Wing Extremism were unwilling to return to the state despite the availability of rehabilitation schemes and security measures in place through security camps.

Responding to a question by Congress MP Phulo Devi Netam, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey told the Rajya Sabha that the state government had organised teams to conduct surveys in the adjoining districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to identify tribal families displaced from Chhattisgarh due to Left-Wing Extremism.

He said that a total of 10,489 tribal individuals from 2,389 families were displaced from the districts of Sukma, Bijapur, and Dantewada due to Left-Wing Extremism.

A total of 9,702 tribal people were displaced from Sukma, 579 from Bijapur and 208 from Dantewada, Uikey added.