PM, CM have not delivered on Kandhamal promises'
Bhubaneswar, Feb 6

Church leaders today alleged that promises made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of providing adequate relief to those affected by the 2008 riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district had not been fulfilled.
"Both the prime minister and chief minister have not fulfilled their promises to the victims immediately after the riots and the people have been left to their fate," Cuttack- Bhubaneswar diocese Archbishop Raphael Cheenath told reporters here.
Demanding full compensation for re-building damaged houses, he said that the administration had arbitrarily fixed Rs 50,000 for fully destroyed ones even though the cost was much more.

"Altogether 5,347 houses were damaged and over 75 people were killed in the riots, but the government is not giving compensation to all the affected," he claimed.
The Archbishop also spoke of taking legal help to ensure that no riot victims would live through another summer and monsoon without shelter.
"I will have no hesitation in again approaching the Orissa High Court or the Supreme Court if the miseries of the people are not ameliorated."

Though the riot victims had filed 3,232 complaints in police stations in Kandhamal, only 832 cases were registered, while 89 persons were convicted and 251 acquitted due to lack of evidence, the Archbishop alleged.

Seeking transfer of district officials, Cheenath said "the chief minister must investigate the role of the district administration including the collector, block and tehsil officers and others".
"It is strange that officers in whose presence the violence took place and thousands of houses were burnt are still in office and are declaring that there is peace in the district."

Cheenath also demanded a white paper on the land issue which was considered as one of the major issues behind the violence in Kandhamal.
John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council, alleged that witnesses were being terrorised by the Sangh Parivar in the state.