A three member ministerial team, headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, reached Orissa on a two day visit to assess the situation in the state that witnessed violence against Christians recently. Sending alarm bells ringing for the Orissa government, the group is scheduled to visit riot-affected Kandhamal on Tuesday.
Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar and Tribal Affairs Minister PR Kyndiah are other members of the central team, which is scheduled to submit a report to the government on its return.
The team, according to the sources, will visit Raikia, one of the worst affected blocks in the Kandhamal district, where communal violence erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of senior VHP leader and anti-conversion proponent Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his disciples, at his Jalespeta ashram on August 23.
The team will also visit Jalespeta ashram and interact with inmates. Elaborate arrangements have been put in place for the visit. Officials peg the death toll in the two month violence at 37, unofficial sources, however, put the death toll at 45.
The violence affected 402 villages under all 12 blocks of the district and damaged as many as 3,906 houses and 22 public institutions, according to a preliminary report prepared by the district administration.
The report also pointed out that 147 religious places including churches and prayer houses were damaged in the violence.
The state government has asked the district administration to complete the survey of the affected religious places including churches and prayer houses by November 25,
The state government has already announced a financial assistance package to rebuild the religious places.
The rehabilitation of Churches, however, is opposed by the VHP. The Hindu outfit has threatened to go to the court alleging it constituted a violation of norms.
The ministerial team will also assess living conditions at relief camps.
The visit takes place in the backdrop of discussions in the Cabinet meeting last month over the situation in the state. A number of Congress' UPA allies had demanded dismissal of the Orissa government besides a ban on Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The Orissa government has repeatedly showed disregard for Home Ministry and PMO advisories, the latest being the grant of permission to a right-wing outfit to organise a Shradhanjali Sabha in memory of slain VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, despite a Home Ministry warning that said the Sabha could further vitiate the ‘tense’ situation n th state.
Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar and Tribal Affairs Minister PR Kyndiah are other members of the central team, which is scheduled to submit a report to the government on its return.
The team, according to the sources, will visit Raikia, one of the worst affected blocks in the Kandhamal district, where communal violence erupted in the aftermath of the assassination of senior VHP leader and anti-conversion proponent Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his disciples, at his Jalespeta ashram on August 23.
The team will also visit Jalespeta ashram and interact with inmates. Elaborate arrangements have been put in place for the visit. Officials peg the death toll in the two month violence at 37, unofficial sources, however, put the death toll at 45.
The violence affected 402 villages under all 12 blocks of the district and damaged as many as 3,906 houses and 22 public institutions, according to a preliminary report prepared by the district administration.
The report also pointed out that 147 religious places including churches and prayer houses were damaged in the violence.
The state government has asked the district administration to complete the survey of the affected religious places including churches and prayer houses by November 25,
The state government has already announced a financial assistance package to rebuild the religious places.
The rehabilitation of Churches, however, is opposed by the VHP. The Hindu outfit has threatened to go to the court alleging it constituted a violation of norms.
The ministerial team will also assess living conditions at relief camps.
The visit takes place in the backdrop of discussions in the Cabinet meeting last month over the situation in the state. A number of Congress' UPA allies had demanded dismissal of the Orissa government besides a ban on Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
The Orissa government has repeatedly showed disregard for Home Ministry and PMO advisories, the latest being the grant of permission to a right-wing outfit to organise a Shradhanjali Sabha in memory of slain VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, despite a Home Ministry warning that said the Sabha could further vitiate the ‘tense’ situation n th state.
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