Expedite govt projects, laxity can't be tolerated : Soren

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday expressed unhappiness over the slow pace of governments projects in Lohardagga and Gumla districts and warned officers of strict action in case of delay.

Soren asked the officers concerned to expedite schemes on ''mission mode'' while holding review meetings of the development projects of the two districts during his 'Khatiyani Johar Yatra', being held to mark three years of the UPA government in the state.

He also attacked the previous regimes in the state and charged them of ''exploiting'' Jharkhand to the hilt.

''No laxity will be tolerated in the dream projects ... If schemes are not expedited by December 31, strict action will be taken against the officers,'' he said in course of review meetings.

He asked officers to take action against those involved in illegal mining and to lodge FIRs besides ensuring that the benefits of schemes like Chief Minister Employment Generation Scheme, Chief Minister Livestock Development Scheme, Kisan Credit Card, Drought Relief Scheme and MNREGA reach the poorest of the poor.

The schemes and their working will be fully monitored, he said.

Till now the schemes were reviewed at the headquarters level. ''Our government is working to see the ground reality of the schemes at the district level. If needed, the plans will be reviewed in detail at the block and panchayat levels as well,'' Soren said.

He asked officers to check human trafficking and migration from the state and directed them to make employment opportunities available to the poor to check their exodus.

''Take immediate steps to check crime,'' the chief minister said adding steps should be taken to cover 100 percent of the beneficiaries under the focused schemes of the government. ''Ensure the execution of all pending applications of major schemes before the government completes three years on December 29. A special campaign should be launched for this,'' he directed.

Later, addressing the rally Soren said ''Tribals have been exploited for centuries. Whenever we have progressed they have pushed us back''.

However, now the situation is changing in the state so that ''No Eklavya will have to sacrifice his thumb,'' he said referring to the young fearless tribal warrior in the Mahabharata.

Iterating that the opposition BJP is ''unable to digest'' the development work of the UPA government in Jharkhand, Soren hit out at the saffron party saying that the previous ''double engine'' governments in the state had caused much harm to it.

He said the government has taken a decision to increase reservation in vacant government posts and services in the state to 77 per cent besides fixing land records with 1932 as the cut-off year to determine domicile status and those who fit the definition of local residents. “Whatever we promised to the people, we have delivered,'' he said. The state Assembly recently cleared two bills - The Jharkhand Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Bill, 2022 that raised reservation from 60 per cent to 77 percent and another bill for using land records with 1932 as the cut-off year to determine domicile status.