Ajsu-P to take out rallies over local residents’ policy

Ranchi: The All Jharkhand Students’ Union party (Ajsu-P) on Tuesday will take out a march from the assembly to Raj Bhavan, a distance over 20km, on September 23 seeking governor Ramesh Bais’s intervention in several issues. Thereafter, the party will hold a series of Raj Bhavan marches covering various assembly constituencies from Morhabadi in Ranchi to press for their demands.
Ajsu-P, part of the NDA alliance which is currently in opposition here, said that the key agenda of the upcoming march is to seek definition of local residents’ policy based on the land surveys, mainly the 1932 land survey (khatiyan), declaration of employment policy and enhancement of reservation for other backward classes.
“Party workers from every assembly constituency will take part in the padhyatra to Raj Bhavan for submitting memorandum to governor on different days from September 23 onwards to press for our long-pending demand. However, our series of protest will formally begin with a mega march on September 23,” Ajsu-P supremo Sudesh Mahto said.
Party sources said that it is trying to consolidate itself ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Notably, Hemant Soren-led government at a special assembly session on September 5 that was convened to prove majority on the floor of the house, had announced that it is now working to define local resident’s policy based on 1932 land survey. However, it is yet to announce the modalities. Mahato said that defining local resident’s policy has been one of their long pending demands of his party. He said that a delegation of Ajsu-P will also meet President Droupadi Murmu in this regard.
Mahato said, “Ajsu-P is now ready for a decisive battle on this issue. If required, a state-wide bandh will also be called.”
JMM had promised to define and implement local resident’s policy based on 1932 land records during the state assembly election in 2019 too, but has not fulfilled the commitment even after three years in power, he said. Mahto demanded that reservation for OBCs should be done on basis of caste based census, which should be conducted by the state government. He said that Ajsu-P is also in favour of implementation of Sarna code in the state.
Once the padhyatra series kicks off, it is apprehended that the city’s traffic is expected to go for a toss ahead of the start of festival season. Member of district road safety committee Rishab Anand said, “Any rally in Ranchi, which is already facing frequent traffic jams, intensifies the problem of the people. A serial of rallies would mean that citizens would face long jams in the heart of the city for a sustained period of time.”
An official of Ranchi police, however, said, “We will work out plans accordingly to regulate protestors and festive rush once administration receives formal details about the padhyatra events.”