On backfoot, Soren goes all out — from cars to major public outreach

Consider these:

• A Cabinet meeting held on October 10 approved proposals for purchasing cars for judges and ministers — 21 Skoda cars for judges to the tune of Rs 9.03 crore, an Audi Q7 worth Rs 1.25 crore for  the CM’s cavalcade, and Rs 4 crore for 25 Mahindra Bolero vehicles for Cabinet ministers and for the Assembly Speaker
• On October 21, the Cabinet, in its fifth meeting since August 25, cleared a Raj Bhavan request to have the six “expensive” vehicles in the Governor’s cavalcade insured.
•  The government increased the reservation quota from 14 per cent to 27 per cent for Other Backward Caste (OBC) communities, who make up 46% per cent of the population.

The most visible of the government’s activities, however, has been Sarkar Aapke Dwar, a programme aimed at providing government services to beneficiaries in more than 4,300 panchayats. CM Soren has been helming the project, making it a point to visit at least one panchayat in each district daily, barring days when he has Cabinet meetings.

A source in the government said, “Since the Governor is yet to make the EC recommendation public, the CM is utilising the time to go to the people. Every day, the CM himself goes to one panchayat. He has been repeatedly telling people how governance was poor in the last 20 years until the JMM-led government took over. He talks about how, if earlier women had to run to the block offices for pension, the government’s universal pension scheme has benefited them. We are seeing an aggressive CM, someone who is not afraid of capitalising on an adverse situation.”

Soren has used the Sarkar Aapke Dwar platform to not only talk about the schemes started by his government but to also hit out at the BJP at the Centre. On Wednesday, responding to the ED summons, Soren, who was in Sahibganj inaugurating the second phase of the programme, while saying he doesn’t fear the central agency, made it a point to warn that people who benefited from his schemes, 30 lakh farmers among them, will respond to the ED action politically.

There have been other key decisions made by the government, among them the Cabinet approvals for vehicles to judges, ministers, the Assembly Speaker and the CM himself.

“There was a demand for vehicles for judges and the consultation process was on for the last four-five months. The Cabinet finally gave its approval for the 21 cars. The 25 Bolero vehicles are for ferrying security personnel for the ministers. Earlier, every time a minister moved out to the districts or her constituency, there would be confusion about who would organise the vehicles for the minister’s security — the district police, Home department or the department concerned. Finally, the Cabinet decided that the government would procure the vehicles,” said a source.

In another instance, the Cabinet cleared a request from Raj Bhavan to insure six vehicles in the Governor’s cavalcade.

“There was a requisition from the Governor’s office to insure the vehicles. There was no such provision in place earlier because the government usually took care of the maintenance and repairs of the vehicles when needed. But the Governor wanted the vehicles to be insured as these were expensive, so we made an exception.”

On the political front, the government, while attacking the BJP on several fronts and asking Adivasis and Moolvasis to unite, has taken a string of key decisions — approving 1932 as the cut-off date for domicile (a sensitive issue in Jharkhand which led to the resignation of the state first CM, Babulal Marandi), increasing the reservation quota from 14% to 27% for Other Backward Caste (OBC) communities, and announcing Rs 3,500 per farmer family as drought relief fund.

Among other measures taken with an eye on the rural population and the youth are the ‘Mukhyamantri Gram Gaadi Yojna’, as part of which concessions and tax benefits will be given to private players operating public transport in rural areas, and the decision to build a library with a capacity for 5,000 people at Ranchi University.

The Cabinet has also cleared a proposal to make eggs a daily part of the mid-day meal menu — another long-standing demand by various food security experts in the state. Eggs are currently supplied to school children for only two days a week.

In the space of the first Cabinet meeting held on September 1 and the latest on October 21, the Jharkhand government approved three new policies: the Electronic Vehicle Policy 2022, Jharkhand Ethanol Production Promotion Policy 2022 and the Jharkhand Industrial Promotion Policy. The Cabinet also approved an MoU between the Azim Premji Foundation and the Jharkhand government to lease out 120-150 acres to set up a campus of the Azim Premji University.

Among other decisions by the government since August 25 include increasing the honorarium of Anganwadi workers; doubling of the CM ‘Gambhir Bimari Illaj Yojna’ from 5 lakh per person to Rs 10 lakh; giving a month’s extra salary to police personnel in the state; and announcing Rs 3,500 per farmer family as drought relief and giving government employees the option to avail the Old Pension Scheme.