Tribal people in the eastern state of Orissa continue to protest the killing of 12 tribal members by police fire on January 2, refusing to remove roadblocks to a major highway, The Times of India reports. Protests have been ongoing since the incident occurred in Kalinga Nagar. According to India’s Economic Times, nearly 1,000 people, the majority of whom are tribal peoples of the Chandia, Champakoila, and Gobarghati villages, were protesting the displacement of their tribes for the building of a private steel company when the police opened fire. Protestors’ current demands include monetary compensation for each tribal member killed by the police, increased payment for each acre of land, and greater consideration by the government for their future employment. "We were paid only 37,000 rupees (US $823) per acre of land whereas the government has sold the same land to the companies for over 300,000 rupees (nearly US $6,670) per acre," one protestor, Nanika Jamuda, told BBC News.
