On 13th June, 2021, Sunday, Odisha's Koraput district administration informed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that appropriate action has been taken to ensure the basic human rights to the people living at the birthplace of freedom fighter Laxman Naik, Tentuligumma in Koraput. Mr. Naik was killed during the freedom struggle war.
After the NHRC warned the Chief Secretary of oppressive action, the Collector responded in detail about the development projects in the area. The report was submitted to the NHRC in response to an Action Taken Report (ATR) on a petition filed by Radhakanta Tripathy, a prominent rights campaigner and top court lawyer.
The settlement is roughly 40 kilometres from the block headquarters of Boipariguda, which is 120 kilometres from Koraput and 70 kilometres from Malkangiri town. Tripathy claimed that the nearest health centre, on which the locals rely, is 25 kilometres distant at Mathili.
Tripathy made the point that, the village's current situation is that even in the case of emergency, the ambulance never arrives. Women who are pregnant are forced to suffer or give birth without medical help. Children are denied of education, while the elderly are impoverished. The situation of disabled people is unbearable.
Despite his status as a liberation warrior, he claims that his hometown of Tentuligumma lacks basic facilities like as all-weather roads, safe drinking water, healthcare, and education. The state authorities issued a report claiming that plans for the development of the region are in the works. In response to the Commission's directive, Tripathy sent a rebuttal in which he described the villagers' protracted struggle and asked the NHRC to urge the state to build a road for Tentuligumma people and a bridge over the Kolab river as soon as possible, in a safe and secure environment.
Tripathy further claims there is no road connecting Dandabadi and Tentuligumma. Tripathy, who has attracted the Commission's attention to the need for bridges spanning the Sileru and Saberi rivers in the area, claims that the government is too busy making promises to keep them.
On March 18, 2021, District Magistrate & Collector, Koraput, Odisha, submitted a report to the Commission, which included input from Executive Engineer (R & B) Division.
It stated that the length from Dandabadi to Tentuligumma is ten Km. Out of which the portion of road from Dandabadi to Dumripadar measuring 7 km has been taken over by the Work Department. It reported that the distance between Dandabadi and Tentuligumma is 10 kilometres. The Work Department has taken over the 7-kilometer stretch of road between Dandabadi and Dumripadar.
The Rural Development Department has taken over the Sabari River Bridge after 6.3 kilometres from Dandabadi, and construction is already underway. Rural Works Division, Koraput is building a high-level bridge over the Sabari River at the 5th kilometre on the Podapadar-Tentuligumma PMGSY Road as part of the Biju Setu Yojana.
The NHRC has been told that the remaining disconnected road in the Reserve Forest & Ghat region is not included in the stated Bridge approach, which is being implemented by the Rural Works Division, Koraput.
Inaction, apathy, and failure by the Indian government have continued in the K-B-K (Undivided Kalahandi, Bolangir, and Koraput) area even after seventy-three years of independence, according to Tripathy.
