Phulbani (Orissa), Nov 18: Seeking rehabilitation of
riot victims in Orissa's Kandhamal on a "war footing", a
central ministerial team on Tuesday said concrete steps must be
taken to enable the affected people to return to their
homes without fear.
Adequate security measures should be taken to ensure quick
return of the violence-affected people from relief camps to
their homes by removing fear from their mind, the central
team led by Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said after
visiting the strife-torn district, nearly three months after
it was rocked by communal violence.
"Proper steps should be taken on a war footing for
restoration of peace and normalcy as well as rehabilitation of
the violence affected people," Pawar said after the team
members visited some affected places and relief camps and held
discussion with senior officials.
During the meeting with officials here before their
departure, the team members stressed the need to provide work
to riot-hit people near their respective villages under
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The three-member team on a mission to assess the
situation visited Raikia, one of the worst affected areas, and
went to a relief camp sheltering about 800 victims of communal
violence triggered by the killing of VHP leader
Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23. The violence left 39
persons dead.
The team, which also included Union Social Justice
Minister Meira Kumar and Tribal Affairs minister P R Kyndiah,
spent about an hour at the camp and listened to the problems
of the displaced persons who voiced their apprehensions to
return home fearing fresh attacks, the sources said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 00:00