Jharkhand: CM Hemant Soren wants 75% quota for locals in coal sector jobs

RANCHI: Chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday requested the Centre to ensure that all coal companies operating in Jharkhand provide 75% reservation in jobs to local residents and strongly pitched for awarding tenders/contracts worth up to Rs 1 crore to only local firms to pave the way for a harmonious work environment.
Soren placed the demands before Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi during a high-level meeting on Saturday in Ranchi. Joshi's visit comes close on the heels of a meeting in Delhi last week between a delegation of top state officials led by chief secretary Sukhdev Singh and the Niti Aayog during which they raised many long-pending demands and concerns, including mining.
Following his whirlwind tour of the state in the second week of October in the backdrop of the nationwide coal crisis, Joshi's current visit was aimed at weeding out issues to operationalise more coal pockets falling in Jharkhand to achieve the Union government's aim of reducing coal import.
According to an official statement from the state information and public relations department, Joshi requested Soren to personally look into the issues concerning three coal mines - Rajmahal-Taljhari block, Hurl and Siyal - to make them operational at the earliest.
Mining has always been contentious in mineral-rich Jharkhand, considered a tribal heartland with about two-thirds of its area under forest cover. Conflict between miners and locals, challenges of rehabilitation and environmental hazards in several mining zones are also a concern for the government.
Soren said a sustainable and harmonious mining environment cannot be achieved without addressing local concerns. "State government has introduced 75% reservation in jobs for locals and all coal companies such as CCL, BCCL and others must employ locals to avoid a tussle. Locals must be also given priority in tender and work orders up to Rs 1 crore, which will create a congenial environment for smooth operations," Soren said.
Joshi agreed to take up the matter with the Union government.
The chief minister also demanded return of unused lands by the mining companies to the state so that they can be used for other welfare measures.
Rajmahal JMM MP Vijay Hansda, who also attended the meeting, demanded settlement certificates from the coal companies for those displaced by their projects.
"Several people who were rehabilitated don't have settlement certificates owing to which the threat of further displacement looms," Hansda said.