Chief minister Hemant Soren seeks tribal regiment, raises payment demands at EZC meet

RANCHI: Chief minister Hemant Soren appealed to the Centre to give directions to the ministry of defence to raise a tribal regiment of the Army apart from reminding the Union government of Jharkhand’s demand for payment of coal royalty dues and give back the state its forest rights.
Soren made the demands while attending the 25th meeting of the eastern zonal council chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah in Kolkata on Saturday.
Justifying his demand for a tribal regiment, the chief minister said the tribal community has contributed immensely to the development of the nation and has been at the forefront of making the supreme sacrifice for the motherland. “Still their grit and valour remained undermined. So, the formation of a tribal regiment would give them a chance to serve the nation as a distinct unit,” he said.
The chief minister also reiterated the long-pending demands of his government like pending payments worth Rs 1.36 lakh crore in royalties from the coal companies, including CCL, BCCL and ECL, which have not paid land lease rental to the state government for the mines operated in Jharkhand. He also reminded the Union home minister of the recent letter that the state has written demanding restoration of the state’s right to give clearance on forest land for up to five hectares.
In connection with forest rights, Soren had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month expressing his displeasure over the Forest Conservation Rules 2022 notified by the Centre which restricts the intervention of the state government in the transfer of forest land. “The way the rights of the gram sabha have been compromised in the new rule will adversely impact the lives of over 20 crore tribal and traditional forest dwellers. The rules must be framed in light of the Forest Rights Act 2006 so that the these people are taken into consideration while deciding about forests,” he said.
Soren also pointed out a common issue faced by the eastern states relating to mines and their closure. He said the abandoned mines should be formally closed so that illegal mining can be checked and environmental remediation be taken up. “Railways generates the maximum revenue from Jharkhand by transporting minerals but unfortunately, it has no zonal headquarters. It must be considered by the Centre,” Soren said. Soren also reiterated that since Sahibganj is being developed as a multimodal port with the potential of serving as the gateway for eastern India, there is an urgent need for the development of an airport there.
In his opening remarks, Shah underlined the success of eastern zonal council meetings in resolving various issues faced by the eastern states. He later tweeted, “Chaired the 25th Eastern Zonal Council Meeting today in Kolkata. In the last eight years under PM Narendra Modi ji’s leadership, more than 1,000 issues were discussed in the Zonal Council meetings and 93% of them were resolved with mutual consent in a positive atmosphere.”