Clear Jharkhand's Rs 1.36 lakh cr dues with mining entities, help in PMAY : Soren to Centre

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren Friday demanded that the Centre clear the Rs 1.36 lakh crore due to the mining entities in the state and help in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna as eight lakh villagers are eligible for it, an official release said.

Soren, who participated in a conference on Left Wing Extremism in New Delhi, also advocated continued deployment of paramilitary forces to battle the problem, it said.

He drew the Centre's attention to the alleged non-cooperation by banks in lending, which, Soren said, is reflected in the poor credit deposit ratio of 45 per cent in the state against the national average of 67 per cent.

'The mining companies of the Centre owe Rs 1.36 lakh crore to the state, which is not being provided by them. I request you @Shri Amit Shah to direct @MinesMin India to pay these dues as soon as possible,' Soren posted on 'X' ,formerly Twitter.

In his representation to the union home minister, Soren said, "To ensure that the problem of extremism does not recur, it is necessary that development-oriented schemes be run on a large scale in these (affected) areas, for which resources will be required from the state. In this context, I would like to draw your attention that the Centre's mining companies owe about Rs 1.36 lakh crore to state ... You are requested to issue instructions to the mining ministry to pay the dues as soon as possible."

He stressed on the need to continue the deployment of central paramilitary forces in the state to prevent recurrence of extremism in the state to prevent recurrence of extremism, the release said.

The chief minister also sought the fixing of the tenure of the IG of CRPF deputed in the state for at least three years in order to maintain continuity in anti-Naxal operations.

Soren, who is the first Jharkhand chief minister to visit a former Maoist hotbed ‘Budha Pahad’ bordering Chhatisgarh in about four decades, said, 'This area was earlier beyond the reach of the state government. I am happy to say that with the cooperation of the central government it has been freed from Naxalites. A police camp has been established there .... After conducting an in-depth survey, an action plan has been prepared for the development of six panchayats in this area. The work of implementing the scheme has started'.

Regretting that many schemes for eradication of extremism were suddenly stopped hurting the efforts towards eradication of extremism, Soren said benefits of Special Central Assistance with Rs 30 crore aid to a affected district has been reduced to only nine district against 16.Stating that eight lakh eligible beneficiaries are deprived of the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana despite repeated requests to the union ministry of rural development, Soren urged immediate action in this regard.

Drawing the Centre's attention to the alleged apathy of banks in lending in Jharkhand, the chief minister said 'Jharkhand is not receiving the expected cooperation from banks for development, which is reflected in the state's credit deposit ratio being only 45 per cent against national average of about 67 per cent.

"Due to this non-cooperative attitude of the banks, the people of the state are deprived of the benefits of investments worth lakhs of crores of rupees. The banks are not providing even small loan facilities to those belonging to the scheduled tribe community in the state," Soren said.

Objecting to the proposed changes in the guidelines for spending from the District Mineral Fund within a radius of 15 km of any mining area, he demanded doing away with it and stated this is not possible for a state like Jharkhand covered with forests and mountains.

Altogether 762 Naxalites were arrested from January 2022 to August 2023 and 20 of them were killed in police encounter. Another 37 Naxalites surrendered and rewards ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore was announced for those who provide information that leads to the arrest of the absconding Naxalites.

He said 48 security camps have been established in Naxal affected areas from January 2020 till now. These include Seraikela-Chaibasa-Khunti-Ranchi border areas, Budha Pahad, Kolhan and Parasnath areas, the release added.