Odisha minister has grabbed Dalit family`s land: NCSC state co-od

Koraput(Odisha): The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has claimed that the allegation of land grabbing against Odisha`s school and mass education minister Rabi Narayan Nanda was found true, which he has denied. A dalit family had moved the NCSC, alleging the minister had grabbed over 20 acres of their land at Patraput village in Korput`s Jeypore block.

The minister has denied the allegation. "Around 23 acres, registered in the name of the predecessors of the dalit family, is in possession of Nanda and his wife. The minister has given the land to a few persons on sharecropping. The sharecroppers are threatening the Dalit family," NCSC state coordinator Haladhar Sethi said yesterday after a preliminary inquiry. I will submit my findings to the NCSC chairman. I have also urged the Koraput district administration to provide adequate protection to the family, he added. The complainant, Hari Pangi, also lodged a complaint at Jeypore Sadar police station against the sharecroppers in presence of Sethi. "We have registered a case and investigating the allegation," said Inspector in-charge of Jeypore Sadar police station R K Dehury