Centre trying to destabilise state govt: CM

JAMSHEDPUR: Chief minister Hemant Soren on Sunday once again reiterated that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre is continuously trying to defame him and destabilise his government referring to the ongoing probes by the enforcement directorate (ED) and other central agencies against him, his political aides and other government officials here.
Speaking on the occasion of paying tribute to statehood movement leader Sahid Nirmal Mahato at Uliyan in Kadma near here, Soren also lashed out at the Union government, accusing it of finishing off government jobs by privatising the public sector enterprises rapidly.
"The consequence of the Union government's move is harming job aspirants, particularly the marginalised job seekers of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities," he said.
The chief minister further said, "The privatisation of the railways and airports, among other enterprises along with the merger of the public sector banks, and now with the Agnivpath scheme in the defence sector, government job opportunities for our Dalit and Adivasi youths are shrinking."
Noting that lesser government job opportunities will impact the future of job seekers in general, the chief minister said that economically and socially backward Dalits and Adivasis will be adversely affected.
Addressing the party workers at the 72nd birth anniversary of Shahid Nirmal Mahato, Soren also raised concerns over inflation, and price hikes of essential commodities, including fuel and cooking gas, and said they are wreaking havoc on the life of the common people.
He also claimed that since Day One of his office, opposition BJP has not let him work freely.
"They have objections to the 1932 base year for determining the domicile policy and they also have a problem with the Sarna religion code," Soren said.
Of the 20 people who went to the court to challenge his government's employment policy, only one person was a tribal while the remaining were either natives of Bihar or UP, he said.
"For centuries, we have been fighting feudalism and exploitative forces, and even to this day, we are fighting for the people about this mindset. It is not easy to defeat such forces," the chief minister said.
He iterated that scores of Moolvasis and Adivasis sacrificed their lives in the statehood movement and Sahid Nirmal Mahato, was the torchbearer for the tribals.
"My government is committed to honouring the people who put in their blood and sweat in the statehood movement. Pension for the statehood activists, jobs to the next kin of the martyrs are dear to my government," Soren said.
Soren also said his government is about to complete three years in office, but the majority of the period was spent fighting the Covid pandemic. "Since the past year, we started pursuing development projects and welfare schemes vigorously," he stressed.
Comparing with the erstwhile rule of BJP in the state, Soren said the path-breaking decisions taken by his government in the past year alone, clearly overshadow the 19 years of "misrule" of the saffron party.
He mentioned that the previous BJP government cancelled 12 lakh ration cards, while his government added 20 lakh new ones. "We are taking up the challenges on all the fronts and coming out successful with the support and blessings of the people," the chief minister added.
State transport minister Champai Soren and health minister Banna Gupta addressed the crowd briefly. Earlier, the CM, flanked by his two cabinet colleagues beside party MLAs and leaders paid floral tributes to Sahid Nirmal Mahato at his burial place.