‘Lack of proper policy for displaced persons…decided to set up committee’: CM Hemant Soren after Jharkhand cabinet expansion

RANCHI: In an expansion of the Cabinet, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday said there was large-scale mining activity in Jharkhand but no policy had been formulated for displaced persons, adding that the government had decided to constitute a committee.

“Today there was a cabinet expansion. We had a meeting as well. Tomorrow everyone will start their work… there are a lot of mining activities going on here… but the government did not have any policy towards the people concerned. Today we decided to constitute a committee for them,” the Jharkhand CM told reporters here on Monday.

He added that the state government must fulfil the responsibility placed upon it by the citizens.

“Mining activities are taking place on a large scale in Jharkhand as it has 40 per cent of the country’s mineral reserves but there is no proper policy for the displaced or those who are likely to be displaced. We will soon set up a resettlement committee and provide more details. We will conduct a socio-economic survey of the displaced and prepare a database so that we can understand the ups and downs of mining and prepare documentary evidence of what our people are gaining and losing due to mining activities and its impact and prepare actions,” he added.

Earlier, the Jharkhand government convened the first ministerial meeting on Project Bhawan.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Chief Minister Dipika Pandey Singh said farmers are the backbone of our state’s economy.

“Farmers are the backbone of our state’s economy. How they can get maximum benefits will be an important issue. Loan waiver will be our flagship programme,” Dipika Pandey Singh told reporters.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Baidyanath Ram said the government will develop the education sector.

“We will work on developing the education sector… development work is on… in three months we will work on delivering better results,” Baidyanath Ram said.

Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, chief minister of Jharkhand, said the government was working towards achieving this goal.

“I have always been very careful about this responsibility. This time too we have a big task ahead of us… we have to provide clean drinking water to 61 lakh homes and we have a bigger role in this than the Centre. In Nal Jal Yojana… the state government does all the monitoring and the machines are provided by the state government. We are working towards achieving our target,” he said.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren took oath as a minister in the Jharkhand government led by Hemant Soren at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi.

Champai Soren resigned as prime minister on July 3, a day before JMM executive chairman Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 13th chief minister of Jharkhand on July 4.

Apart from Champai Soren, JMM leaders Baidya Nath Ram, Babi Devi, Mithilesh Thakur, Deepak Birua and Hafizul Hasan took oath as ministers.

Congress leaders Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta, Irfan Ansari, Dipika Pandey Singh and RJD leader Satyanand Bhokta also took oath as ministers.

This morning, Hemant Soren won the floor test in the special session of the state assembly. Hemant Soren won the trust vote with the votes of 45 MLAs supporting him. He was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Jharkhand at Raj Bhavan, Ranchi on July 4.

Hemant Soren was released from Birsa Munda jail on June 28 after nearly five months of being released on bail by the Jharkhand High Court in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged land scam.

He resigned as prime minister before his arrest on January 31. In January, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of alleged land fraud and money laundering.

Champai Soren, who took over as CM after his arrest, resigned from the post just five months after taking oath, paving the way for Hemant Soren to take over the post again on Wednesday.

Champai Soren took oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand at Raj Bhavan on February 2 this year.

Earlier in a video message, Hemant Soren accused the BJP party of making false allegations against him.

“During the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections, the people of Jharkhand gave a mandate to our party, but the conspirators could not understand how an Adivasi youth could sit in such a high office. Finally, on January 31, they (BJP) made false allegations against me and removed me from the post of the Chief Minister. With the blessings of the people, I am sitting here before you. We will always be the voice of the people. Today, the public opinion of the people of Jharkhand will rise again. By taking over power, the work will be done again,”

Hemant Soren’s return as CM will strengthen the JMM party, which won three seats in the tribal-dominated state of Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha elections.

In 2019, the JMM contested the general elections in alliance with the Congress and Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and won a clear majority, winning forty-seven seats in the 81-member house.