Mr. Soren alleged that the Centre is not giving the State its due but is deducting thousands of crores of rupees from its account
Chief Minister Hemant Soren on September 9 said if the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party supports him, he can stop functioning of Coal India Limited (CIL), which owes ₹1.5 lakh crore to the Jharkhand government, in the State.
Despite that, the Centre is auto-debiting huge funds from Jharkhand’s RBI account, Mr. Soren said in the Assembly and attacked the central government for its alleged partisan approach towards non-BJP-ruled states.
"If the main opposition party [BJP] supports, I can make a decision to stop the work of Coal India. It owes ₹1.5 lakh crore to the State.
"When we raise the issue, some central Minister comes and the CIL pays ₹50 crores or ₹100 crores. So far, only ₹300 crores has been received," the Chief Minister said during the last day of the Monsoon session of the assembly.
However, he said he does not want to make such a decision that will affect the Central government and leave other States without power.
Mr. Soren alleged that the Centre is not giving the State its due but is deducting thousands of crores of rupees from its account.
Earlier, BJP legislator Dhullu Mahto asked a question related to compensation to people displaced due to CIL projects in Dhanbad region to which Mr. Soren said the PSU was not heeding to requests of the State government.
In July, Mr. Soren had asked the CIL to immediately pay ₹56,000 crores outstanding dues in lieu of government land allotted to it for mining.
Attacking the BJP, Mr. Soren said the party has failed to digest defeat in polls in Jharkhand as well as in neighbouring West Bengal.
"During the election in West Bengal, it appeared that it was a war between India and Pakistan. One should accept defeat. The opposition too has its role. We also spent five years in opposition," Mr. Soren said.
The BJP-led central government is deducting money from the consolidated account in the name of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) dues citing an agreement signed in the past while the state has limited resources, he said.
To settle the dues of the DVC, the Union Power Ministry recently auto-debited ₹715 crores from Jharkhand’s RBI account.
The then BJP government of Jharkhand in 2017 had made a deal with the Centre and had entered into a tripartite agreement between — State, Centre and the RBI.
The pact was an arrangement of payment mechanism of outstanding power bills to the DVC and other PSUs supplying power to the state. It had a clause of auto-debit if the state failed to pay its bill against the purchase.
Mr. Soren also defended his government’s decision to promote regional languages mentioned in the employment policy and reservation for 10 years in the appointment of Class III and IV staff for the State service.
"What illegal act has been done if I am promoting regional languages? Shouldn’t we promote languages? This will help absorption of local and tribal people in jobs," he said.
The legislation to provide 75% of jobs to locals in the private sector will benefit the people of the State, Mr. Soren said.
"The poor, downtrodden and Dalit people will be benefited. The government of India is also realising the power of the country’s OBC," he said. He said 5 lakh more farmers will get Kisan Credit Card in addition to the 2 lakh who are already getting the service.
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