Enhanced budget for plain land minorities demanded

Politicians, civil society members and leaders of ethnic minority groups on Sunday demanded that the government allocate enhanced budget for the country’s plain land ethnic minority peoples to improve their social status and livelihood.
They urged the government to take immediate steps to ensure their basic rights to land and homestead by creating an independent land commission for the plain land ethnic minorities.
They made the demands at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity. National Adivasi Forum and Kapeng Foundation with support of Manusher Jonnya Foundation organised it.
Speaking at the function, lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badshah said that adivasi people were being deprived of the mainstream development activities.
‘As there is a separate budget for Chittagong Hill Track, I urge the finance minister to allocate at least Tk 1,000 crore in the upcoming budget for the plain land national minorities,’ he said.
He called upon the government to ensure security, justice and rights to lands for all marginalised people including the plain-land minorities.
Senior politician Pankaj Bhattacharya demanded establishment of independent land commission for them to ensure their entitlement to homestead and croplands where they were living for 150 years.
He demanded enhanced budgetary allocation for all poor, marginalised peoples.
Columnist Syed Abul Maksud said that instead of inviting foreign direct investment, the government should make more investment to involve the ethnic minorities in the development activities as these people would not leave the country but foreigners would.
Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum general secretary Sanjeeb Drong said that oppression and regression on the country’s minority people was intensifying day by day.
‘The overall situation of the adivasi people is not good. Violation of their human rights is taking place every day,’ he said.
National Adivasi Forum president Rabindranath Soren presented a keynote at the press conference.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net