The recent flareup in Kandhamal district was fuelled by caste certificates obtained fraudulently and the Orissa government was investigating allegations that mostly non-tribal Christians had availed of them, official sources claimed on Tuesday.

The fake certificates helped in securing government jobs and other benefits, a senior official of the SC and ST department said. It was being alleged that people had been fraudulently getting tribal certificates by claiming that they belonged to the 'Kui' tribe.

There was a demand for tribal certificates as under the existing law a tribal, in case of change of religion, would continue to avail the benefits extended to them, while a person belonging to scheduled caste would lose them once they
converted to another religion.

The crux of the problem was 'Kui', which was a dialect spoken widely in Kandhamal and had been erroneously taken to be a separate tribal group and included in the state's list of tribes, the official said.

"Though a large number of people speak the Kui in Kandhamal, all of them are not tribals," the official said, adding there was no specific tribal group known as 'Kui'. In a bid to address the problem, the Orissa government has proposed deletion of the term 'Kui' from the state's list of tribes.

Official sources said that the decision to delete the term was taken at a meeting of the state-level Tribal Advisory Committee held here on December 19.

Most people in the riot-torn district, whether belonging to the Kondh tribe, scheduled castes or from the general public, conversed in Kui dialect.

The Kui Samaj Samanway Samiti (KSSS), an organisation of tribals in Kandhamal district, has been demanding investigation and cancellation of fake certificates issued to non-tribals.

The deletion of 'Kui' from the list of tribes would make it easy for the administration to ensure that benefits meant for the tribals were not usurped by non-tribals, KSSS sources said.