Din in Jharkhand Assembly over employment policy

The Jharkhand Assembly witnessed stormy scenes for the third consecutive day on Wednesday with the opposition BJP MLAs demanding that Chief Minister Hemant Soren should clarify provisions of the state's new employment policy.

Amid the ruckus by the BJP MLAs sporting saffron T-shirts that displayed '60-40 nai chalto' (60-40 will not be acceptable) and '1932 ke khatiyan ka kya hua' (What happened to the 1932 land records based policy), the House was adjourned multiple times by Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato.

As soon as the House assembled for the day at around 11 am, legislators belonging to the saffron party trooped into the Well of the House raising slogans demanding clarification from the chief minister on the new policy which was objected to by the Speaker, saying that he cannot force the leader of the House to give a statement on the issue.

Amid uproarious scenes, the Speaker directed the authorities to stop the live telecast of the proceedings on Vidhan Sabha TV for some time during the Question Hour.

This enraged JMM MLA Lobin Hembrom who refused to ask a supplementary question on the time frame for implementation of the Panchayat Extension in Schedule Area (PESA) Act forcing the Speaker to order the resumption of the telecast.

Amid the chaos, AJSU Party's Sudesh Mahto remarked whether the Chair was favouring the ruling party which was objected to by the Speaker strongly before he adjourned the House till 12.30 pm.

BJP MLA Amar Kumar Bauri said the government ''failed'' to implement the 1932 Khatiyan-based local policy as promised in its election manifesto.

After the House met briefly at about 12.30 pm, it was again adjourned till 2 pm and amid the chaos, the Speaker adjourned the House for the third time till 3 pm and then till 3.45 pm. When the House reassembled, it was adjourned again. The opposition demanded clarification on the government's plan of introducing a 60-40 ratio for the employment system as reported in a section of the press which claimed that under a new policy, 60 per cent of seats will be reserved for various underprivileged categories while 40 per cent seats will be open for all.

The legislators said the policy lacked clarity and the government had no intention to provide jobs. As soon as the House proceedings resumed at 3.45 pm, the opposition MLAs trooped into the Well shouting slogans and thumping reporters' table and staged a walkout. Amid the din, the demand for grants for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Construction, Building Construction, Rural Works and Urban Development and Housing Departments were passed.