Rayagada MGNREGA Ombudsman in Trouble after Giving Communal Remarks (!)
Badal Tah,Odishabarta
Rayagada, August 6: Adhering to unlock guidelines regarding opening of religious institutions in the district, a meeting of religious leaders of Rayagada town was convened by Sri Pratap Chandra Pradhan, Sub-Collector Rayagada where Additional Tehsildar Sri Sunil Chandra Khora and DIPRO Sri Basant Kumar Pradhan were present on the dais. A brief news about this with these three officers got circulated in different media on last Tuesday.
One Mr Laxmi Narayan Padhi, member in a whatsapp group, commented satirically on the said news by saying that Government Brahmins(Sarakari Brahmans) came together to save the religion(Dharama Rakhya). As Pratap, Sunil and Basant belonged to SC/ST communities, this sort of caste based satire from Laxmi Narayan, who happens to be newly appointed Ombudsman(MGNREGA) of Rayagada, has been condemned by several SC-ST institutions. Registering their protest the DIPRO and senior journalist Badal Tah left the group and many group members warned Padhi to refrain from such comments.
The district unit of All India Backward(ST, SC, OBC) and Minority Communities Employees Federation(BAMCEF) Sri Jalandhar Pushika, a Dangaria Kandha PVTG, demanded that Padhi, who is spreading communal hatred amongst peacefully co-existing communities of Rayagada, should be taken to task immediately by booking atrocity case against him. “If as Ombudsman, Padhi can use such kind of derogatory & abusive language towards the efficient district level ST/SC officers, one can imagine how he will behave with block level officers from these communities and address the grievances of poor beneficiaries under MGNREGA. “To restore communal harmony at all levels, Padhi having such communal mentality should be removed from his present post of Ombudsman’, demanded Sri Abhimanyu Kandhapani, President-BAMCEF & Sri Minarao Ulaka, Additional General Secretary, BAMCEF, Rayagada. They have written a memorandum to Governor with copies to Tribal Minister Jagannath Saraka, MP Saptagiri Ulaka, MLA Makaranda Muduli, Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary-Panchayati Raj. ST-SC commissioner, 5-T Secreatry, Rayagada Collector & SP.
Sri Bommali Kanta Rao, Odisha General Secretary of All India Federation of Scheduled Castes/Tribes, Backwards and Minorities Employees Association(SCEWASTAMB) has also condemned this dastardly communal act of Padhi. He has also written to Padhi’s appointing authorities like Panchayati Raj Secretary & Chief Secretary of Odisha and demanded immediate ouster of Padhi, who is appointed as Ombudsman(MGNREGA) for next two years.
Odisha Adibasi Manch District Convenor Sri Dibakar Sabar and many of his colleagues have disapproved the tone used against the SC/ST officers. “He has hurt the sentiment of entire SC/ST communities of the district. He has written to MGNREGA councils of state and central govts and demanded an immediate ouster and other necessary action against the culprit like Padhi.
It is learnt that Sub-Collector, Additional Tehsildar and DIPRO, against whom Padhi made this communal comment, have already appraised about this to the District Collector Sri Saroj Kumar Mishra, who is also the District Programme Coordinator of MGNREGA. Mishra has also been messaged, emailed & tweeted by some sensitive journalists of Rayagada to act upon this with immediate effect and appraise the state govt in this regard. DRDA PD Sri Maheswar Nayak has been informed about the incident as DRDA is the nodal agency in implementing MGNREGA.
