Tribal families get land rights

KORAPUT: As many as 92 landless tribal families, predominantly of Paraja and Gadaba tribes from Katalaput, Charampi and Nandigaon villages of Koraput’s Nandapur tehsil, received homestead pattas from Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare on Sunday. The tribal families had been identified as the first batch of landless households to receive patta for house sites in the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP) intervention area. All the homesteadless and landless households in the 244 project villages are targeted to be distributed land title by mid-2012.   Earlier in the day, the Governor attended the inauguration ceremony of Results Monitoring Survey (RMS) that aims to ascertain whether the government schemes are reaching the beneficiaries at the grassroots.He also inaugurated the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) at the district headquarters hospital. Bhandare said the problems of healthcare in the region can be addressed by setting up a medical college and hospital at Koraput.Parlakhemundi: The differently-abled children have a lot of potential and with proper support can prove themselves, said the Governor at Niyatee, a school for mentally challenged children in the district, on Sunday.Interacting with members of SHGs, Bhandare said Mission Shakti has played a decisive role in making them economically independent. He distributed pattas among the beneficiaries under the Forest Rights Act and cheques under the National Family Benefit Scheme. Bhandare inaugurated a boys hostel for ST- SC students of M R Boys’ High school. The hostel has been built at a cost of ` 35 lakh by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency. Collector R P Singh, SP Sarthak Sarangi and Project Administrator, ITDA, Kalyan Rath were present.The members of Organisation of People With Disabilities, Samartha, submitted a memorandum to the Governor for establishment of a school-cum-hostel for the visually impaired children of the district.