Bijoy Pradhan IENS
BHUBANESWAR: After decades of neglect, the State Government in an initiative similar to the ‘wiser after the event syndrome’ has started looking into the false caste certificate issue in Kandhamal district.
It took more than a decade for the Government to prepare a resolution as per the Supreme Court ruling on issues of caste certificate in Madhuri Patil verses Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development, Thane, case. The apex court ruling was pronounced on April 28, 1997.
The Supreme Court has laid down a detailed procedure for identification of false caste certificates with the ruling that such cases should be handled by a police officer of the rank of inspector of police.
Notwithstanding the claim of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Revenue Minister Manmohan Samal after the December 2007 attack on Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati that tehsildars of Kandhamal district are on the job of verifying cases relating to false caste certificates, the Government resolution as per the apex court ruling only issued to the district collectors on June 28, official sources said.
The Government deputed 10 inspectors of police to investigate the false caste certificate complaints only recently following request from the Kandhamal district administration.
The district administration has also provided two-day training to the 10 cops. While officers of ST and SC Development Department and anthropologists from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research Institute, Bhubaneswar, provided basic knowledge on how to distinguish non-tribals from tribals, senior district officers guided them on administrative issues involved in dealing with false caste certificate cases, Kandhamal District Collector Krishen Kumar told this paper.
The police inspectors will be deputed in those blocks having maximum such complaints, Kumar said adding, the district administration has received about 540 registered complaints so far.Apprehending slow progress on the investigation front in the current month, Kumar exuded confidence that the process will speed up from November. Efforts will be made to complete the investigation as quickly as possible as a series of procedures need to be followed, he added.The specially deputed police officers have a final round of discussion today with senior district officials at the Phulbani collectorate. Special administrator, Kandhamal, Madhusudan Padhi was present.
Most of the complainants alleged that ‘Panas’ and Christian ‘Panas’ have entered into Government services by producing false caste (ST) certificates. Although ‘Panas’ ceased to enjoy the status of Scheduled Caste after conversion to Christianity, Christian ‘Panas’ are still getting both the benefits.a
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