Balangir, March 23: Paschim Odisha Adivasi Mahasangh, the tribal outfit of the western part of the state, has threatened to gherao the state Assembly on April 4 if the government fails to take steps to identify ‘fake tribals’ in the region and take action against them.

They have alleged that many people are availing benefits exclusively meant for the tribals, including government jobs, by submitting fake certificates showing themselves as tribal people.

Tribe ac tivists alleged that though it has been four years since they had informed the government about the fake tribal certificate issue, the government had done virtually nothing to identify the masterminds and bring them to book. The decision to gherao the Assembly was taken at the executive committee meeting of the association here.

President of the Paschim Odisha Adivasi Mahasangh (POAM) Braja Kishore Singhbhoi said the administration was making inordinate delay on the issue.

“We have been demanding action on this issue for the last four years, but there have been no progress. We have approached the district administration and government several times to put forth our demand. While the government has only given us assurance, we believe it has never been serious about the issue. We will gherao the Assembly on April 4 if the government fails to take steps to address our grievances immediately,” he said.

Sources said the association had submitted to the government a list of 355 fake tribal people in Balangir district. The association also informed the government authorities that there were 141 fake tribals in Sonepur district, 204 in Bargarh district, 154 in Boudh district, 896 in Kandhamal district, 24 in Sambalpur district, 12 in Sundargarh district, 14 in Nuapda district, 68 tribals in Kalahandi district, five in Deogarh district and 18 in Nowrangpur district.

General secretary of the mahasangh Niranjan Bishi demanded immediate scrapping of the state-level committee to scrutinise the issue. “We think it is unnecessary to constitute the committee as it has delayed the process of inquiry, because the tehsildars are no longer inquiring into the cases of fake certificates or cancelling them. As a result, the process of detection and cancellation of the fake certificates have come to a halt. As tehsildars can issue the caste certificate, they can also cancel the same. We demand the tehsildars to cancel the certificates,” Bishi said.

The tribal leaders also demanded action against ex-MLA of Titilagarh Jogendra Behera and Patnagarh legislator Kanak Varshan Singhdeo for allegedly helping the non-tribal people to get fake caste certificates.