Interview Times 
Odisha CM, Naveen Patnaik, has withdrawn 48,000 minor cases against the tribal community. According to the media reports, among all these cases 1591 cases have been registered by Forest & Environment Department, and 9,846 cases by the Housing & Urban Development Department. The step is considered the strategic move ahead of assembly polls, which will further increase the burden on the judiciary.
The recent formation of policies and programmes also reflects Patnaik’s approach to pulling the tribal community to his side. In a recent announcement, the Odisha government has allocated Rs 500 crore for the Mukhyamantri Janajati Jibika Mission to assure the tribal youth about their livelihood and also dropped the decision to allow the transference of tribal to non-tribal.
As per the data, sixty-two tribal communities are living in Odisha. Together they constitute 22.1 per cent of the total population of the State.
