Baripada: Members of Kudumi community staged rail roko agitation at Baripada, Rairangpur and Betnoti stations demanding their inclusion in ST list.
Following this, Bangiriposhi-Bhubaneswar superfast express, Baripada-Shalimar train remained halted midway.
At least 10 communities got ST status in the country recently, but the demand of Kudumi Mohantas is yet to be recognised. The community was given ST status up to 1951 but later delisted by the government without any reason.
Allegedly, over 30 lakh people of the community have been neglected not only in Mayurbhanj but Deogarh, Sundargarh, Jajpur, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal, Angul and Keonjhar districts of Odisha along with more than five crore residing in neighbouring states of West Bengal and Jharkhand.