Bhubaneswar, Jan 1 (AHN) In the wake of large scale ethnic violence that occurred last month in the tribal-dominated Malkangiri district, the Odisha government, on Thursday, took a series of decisions to address various grievances of the tribals in the district.

The decisions were made during a high-level meeting held at the Lok Seva Bhawan under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

As per a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), it was decided that the Malkangiri District Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay will review hundreds of pending cases under Regulation 2/56 (as amended in 2002) every fortnight and apprise the progress to the Southern Revenue Divisional Commissioner Sangram Keshari Mohapatra and the state government.

The state government has also decided to provide permanent land titles to the landless and homeless tribal families in the state.

"Expeditious arrangements will be made to provide permanent 'pattas' under the FRA (Forest Rights Act) and OGLS (Odisha Government Land Settlement Act). The District Collector shall review the progress every month and inform the state government," the CMO added.

The Odisha government further resolved to provide permanent 'pattas' to families displaced by the Machhkund Irrigation Project.

As per the state's high-level meeting's decisions, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Deoranjan Kumar Singh, will conduct a quarterly review of all revenue-related matters of Malkangiri district and report to the state government.

"The Water Resources Department will take steps in the coming days to provide irrigation facilities to upland agricultural lands of tribal and other communities located near water bodies," the CMO noted.

The state government also decided that arrangements will be made to ensure tribal applicants can benefit from the Chief Minister's Agriculture Development Scheme, PMEGP (Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme), and PMFME (Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises).

Vacant Multilingual Education teacher posts in Koya, Didayi, and Bonda tribal languages at the primary school level will be filled immediately by the State School and Mass Education Department.

Additionally, the state government resolved to create more seats in higher secondary schools of Malkangiri district so that tribal and other students can continue their studies beyond Class 10.

More hostels will also be constructed in schools and colleges to provide accommodation to students from remote areas in the state.

A special financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund will be provided to the family of the deceased Lake Padiami, a resident of Rakhelguda village, whose brutal killing by miscreants from the nearby MV-26 village of Malkangiri district triggered large scale violence by local tribals against refugees from Bangladesh on December 7 and 8 last year.

"Based on the district administration's report, each partially or fully damaged house in MV-26 village will receive financial assistance of up to Rs 75,000 as per the assessed loss. Similarly, for the repair of damaged shops, each shopkeeper will be provided assistance of up to Rs 20,000 according to the assessed value. The concerned departments shall regularly inform the Chief Minister's Office about the implementation of the above decisions," the CMO told.

According to reports, the murder of a 51-year-old tribal widow, Lake Padiami from Rakhelguda village -- reportedly over a land-related dispute -- and the subsequent recovery of her headless body after four days, floating in a river, triggered widespread violence by tribals of Rakhelguda and adjoining villages on December 7 and 8.

The protesting villagers set more than 50 houses on fire and ransacked over 160 houses belonging to residents of the MV-26 village.

Hundreds of Bengali-speaking families --- who migrated from Bangladesh decades ago and have been residing in MV-26 village -- fled their homes and took shelter in nearby villages to escape the violence.

In view of the tense situation, the state government clamped prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS Act and suspended internet services in the district.

Several platoons of the Central Armed Police Forces and the Odisha Police have also been deployed to prevent further escalation.