Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in the hope that the large tribal population resident there would benefit. But nine years on, it has been a story of neglect and apathy.
At the time Jharkhand was created in 2000, political protagonists for a separate state had literally promised the moon to its inhabitants. These promises included a stable government, an equitable social order, rapid industrialization and most importantly an end to exploitation of the tribal population. But sadly nine years since its birth, none of these promises have been fulfilled.
During these nine years Jharkhand had regimes headed by chief ministers who all were tribals. Of these Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda belonged to the BJP, Shibu Soren to the JMM and Madhu Koda, an independent supported by the Congress and other UPA constituents like the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). All these, incidentally, had links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But as things stand today, the tribals are the most frustrated section of the Jharkhand population.
Except probably Marandi who after leaving the BJP has formed his own political party, all others had faced accusations of misusing their office for personal gain. Madhu Koda, of course, has created record of sorts by being not only an independent but allegedly amassing fortunes worth Rupees 4000 crores. The state thus from day one did not have a stable government which could ensure clean administration and initiate measures for the social welfare and economic prosperity of the people of this resource rich state.
Industrialization could not pick up mainly because of two clearly identifiable reasons though as many as 60 memoranda of understanding (MoU) was signed by successive governments with known national and international firms. First, none of the governments was in a position to bring enough pressure on the Centre which still legally has the ownership of major minerals to extend support for going ahead with these mineral-based industries. Secondly, the local population ,mainly tribals, has been reluctant to part with its land for setting up of industries. But such a reluctance has to be viewed against the background of blatant unfair treatment meted out to the original land owners.
Their land after independence was acquired for Central projects like the Damodar Valley Corpration, the Sindri fertilizer factory, the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), the Bokaro Steel Plant and even for coal mines at almost throw-away price. But no effort was made to rehabilitate persons displaced for these factories or mines in a manner which could at least ensure they had a roof over their head and an occupation to provide them and their families a square meal a day.
A glaring example of such callous indifference to interests of displaced persons is seen in what is happening to those whose land was acquired for the HEC. As much as 3000 acres of land beyond that required for the factory and its township was acquired. But the land owners were given a package which could not sustain them even for a couple of years. The surplus land reportedly is to be taken over by the state government at a price of Rs 50 lakh per acre and the deal for this has almost been signed and sealed.
Since the process of industrialization could not proceed and agriculture, horticulture or animal husbandry – the latter two have huge possibilities – did not receive due attention, there has been an exodus of men and women from Jharkhand. Most of these migrants are tribals who are subjected to humiliation and exploitation at brick-kilns, tea gardens and construction sites in other states. This can be attributed also to the failure of successive
governments to properly implement poverty alleviation programmes. Jharkhand’s record in implementing the National Rural Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is probably the poorest in the country. Even the public distribution system (PDS), the mid-day meal and Antyodaya schemes have not been implemented due to lack of infrastructure such as storage space for food grains made available to the state by the Centre.
Naxalite activities are another disturbing problem the state has been facing for years. Efforts made so far by the state police and Central security forces have not met with the intended success possibly because the extremists are better equipped and have better strategies to defeat the administration’s move. They are also believed to have the covert support of some political outfits. A former extremist won the Palamu seat as a JMM nominee during the last Lok Sabha elections. The state government’s surrender-cum rehabilitation policy which looked almost like an incentive package for the rebels with provisions of Rs 12 lakhs for members of the central committee, Rs 7 lakhs for members of regional committees and similar graded payments did not evoke any perceptible response from the extremists.
However, the big question is whether the Jharkhand electorate will convert the failure of successive government to effectively deal with these problems into election issues? If ignoring these, it gets swayed by considerations of tribe, caste or religious loyalties it will continue to suffer at the hands of the political class.