Bhubaneswar, Aug. 9 -- Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Sunday described his party as the "best friend" of tribal communities and said it would continue efforts to secure Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for 169 communities whose inclusion in the ST list had been proposed to the Centre during the previous BJD government.
Addressing a programme at the party headquarters here to mark World Indigenous Peoples Day, Patnaik said the empowerment of tribal communities had remained at the core of the BJD government's development agenda, with a focus on protecting their rights, promoting education and livelihoods, and preserving their culture and heritage.
Referring to the proposal to include 169 tribal communi...