Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena has urged the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Faggan Singh Kulaste, to ensure 38.75 per cent reservation for SC and ST communities, proportionate to their share in the population.
In a letter to Kulaste, Jena pointed out that SCs and STs currently receive only 20 per cent reservation in professional courses such as MBBS, engineering and nursing, which he said was grossly inadequate. “They should get reservation as per their population ratio,” Jena said.
The appeal comes on the heels of the two-day National Conference of Chairpersons of Committees of Parliament and State Legislatures on the Welfare of SCs and STs, which concluded in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Jena highlighted how Odisha remains the only state that has failed to implement the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, thereby depriving gram sabhas of their constitutional rights.
He demanded the revival of the long-defunct SC/ST finance corporation, shut for over two decades, stressing its importance in providing credit, skill development and entrepreneurship opportunities to SC/ST youth. Jena also pressed for the establishment of five exclusive SC/ST atrocity courts, as directed by the high court, to ensure speedy justice.
On land rights, Jena warned that SC/ST families continue to face alienation due to mining, displacement, and government policies. “Tribals in Scheduled Areas are losing land and livelihoods without consent. The new government plan to acquire SC/ST land for resale to corporates will only worsen exploitation,” he cautioned.
Jena urged the committee to press the government to scrap the controversial land purchase-and-resale policy, which he said directly threatens SC/ST rights. Instead, he proposed the creation of a grant-based corpus fund to support distressed families and secure livelihoods without dispossessing them of their land.
“These recommendations must be considered so that Odisha’s SC/ST communities receive their rightful share in governance, education, and economic development, and their constitutional protections are fully enforced,” Jena concluded.