Naveen orders probe into human safari offer

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday ordered a probe into the alleged offer of human safari in the tribal areas of the State and directed that a senior official should visit Malkangiri district to ascertain the facts.“The Chief Minister has ordered an inquiry to ascertain facts behind it after taking note of a media report. A senior official has been asked to check the facts by touring concerned districts,” Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik told mediapersons here. Patnaik said that action would be taken against those responsible for launching such malicious campaign abroad after getting the report.Tourism Secretary AK Tripathy also rejected the existence of any kind of human safari in the State. Stating that the situation in the area had changed a lot, Tripathy said that ‘Bonda’ tribals do not remain naked anymore. He, however, said that information in the net on a particular subject cannot be controlled.The Tourism Secretary said that whoever has done this was not in good state and certainly it was not a good marketing strategy either. This is not a way to promote tourism or a nation, he said and added that the department will write to tour operators outside the State to delete such objectionable materials on tribes of Odisha.Tripathy said that tourists nowadays do not visit the Bonda villages. They go to the weekly haats, where there is a congregation of other people also. Any such thing like human safari will be caught then and there, he said.Orders have been issued to all the tour operators to delete objectionable materials, if any, on their websites with immediate effect relating to the State, its culture and tribes, Tripathy said and added that action would be taken if any such objectionable material comes to notice.A leading national daily in a London datelined report on Wednesday, however, claimed that tour operators have been offering titillating “human safari” in Odisha that provides a closer look at the Bonda tribe. Out of the 50,000 foreign tourists attracted by Odisha, hardly 4,000 to 5,000 visit the tribal areas.