Bhubaneswar, Jan 1: In the aftermath of last month’s ethnic violence in Malkangiri district, the Odisha government on Thursday announced a series of measures aimed at addressing long-pending grievances of tribal communities. The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at Lok Seva Bhawan, officials said.

Land Rights and Rehabilitation

The government directed Malkangiri Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay to conduct fortnightly reviews of pending land cases under Regulation 2/56, which protects tribal land from alienation to non-tribals.

Permanent land titles will be issued to landless and homeless tribal families under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and Odisha Government Land Settlement (OGLS) Act, with monthly progress reviews. Families displaced by the Machhkund Irrigation Project will also be provided permanent pattas.

Monitoring and Irrigation

The Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Deoranjan Kumar Singh, has been asked to conduct a quarterly review of the rehabilitation and other land-related matters of Malkangiri district and report to the government.

The Water Resources Department has been tasked with providing irrigation facilities to upland farms near reservoirs and water bodies, benefitting tribal and other communities.

Livelihoods and Education

The local tribals and others will be facilitated to take benefits under the Chief Minister's Agriculture Development Scheme, PMEGP, and PMFME other such programmes.

Vacant Multilingual Education teacher posts in Koya, Didayi, and Bonda tribal languages will be filled immediately. More seats will be created in higher secondary schools, and hostels will be constructed to accommodate students from remote areas.

Relief and Compensation

The government announced Rs10 lakh financial assistance from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to the family of Lake Padiami, whose killing triggered the violence. Compensation of up to Rs75,000 will be provided for damaged houses in MV-26 village, while shopkeepers will receive up to Rs20,000 for repairs.

Background of Violence

The unrest followed the murder of 51-year-old tribal widow Lake Padiami of Rakhelguda village, reportedly over a land dispute. Her headless body was recovered from a river four days later, sparking violence on December 7–8. Protesters set more than 50 houses ablaze and ransacked over 160 homes in MV-26 village, forcing hundreds of Bengali-speaking families to flee.

The police have arrested the accused person following the clash, and prohibitory orders had been imposed in the area and internet service suspended for about a week due to the tension.