Malkangiri: Police and excise officials have been destroying ganja plantations in interior pockets of Malkangiri district. But Maoists have raised objections to such exercise and issued a letter on the issue.
The Left wing extremists have linked the ganja farming with the livelihood of tribals in the tribal-dominated region.
Secretary of the Maoists’ special zonal committee of Andhra-Odisha Board, Ganesh has issued a two-page letter in this regard. In the letter, Ganesh has pointed out that scores of tribal people living in remote and inaccessible pockets have no alternative sources of livelihood.
Their livelihood solely depends on ganja farming. “As the administration keeps on destroying ganja plantation in these pockets, livelihood of tribals has been affected. The government should provide alternative scope of livelihood for tribals in such a situation,” the letter read.
The Maoist leader alleged that police and political leaders extract benefits from ganja cultivation while tribal farmers fail to get benefits.
In the letter, the top Maoist observed that the government should first pay attention to implementing measures to make the tribals self-reliant in remote pockets. Thus they can manage their families, he added.
PNN