Jharkhand Assembly passes Rs 8,534 crore supplementary budget by current FY

The Jharkhand Assembly on Wednesday passed a Rs 8,533.79-crore supplementary budget for the current fiscal by voice vote.

This is the second estimates with the House on August 1 passing a Rs 3,436.56-crore supplementary budget for the 2022-23 fiscal.

Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon, who had tabled the supplementary budget on Tuesday, said the government has spent 49 per cent of the main estimates till date, and a supplementary budget was required for ensuring a proper supply of power and scholarships to students etc.

The discussion on the budget took place, amid protests by opposition leaders against a recruitment policy.

The supplementary budget included Rs 2,733 crore for energy, Rs 1,158 crore for women and child development, Rs 1,050 for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, other backward classes and minorities, Rs 595 crore for agriculture.

JMM legislator Sudivya Kumar alleged that petitioners, who challenged the recruitment policy in the High Court, hailed from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and the main petitioner was a BJP leader.

BJP legislator CP Singh also claimed that the benefits of the public distribution system were not reaching the targeted group.

Congress MLA Pradeep Yadav attacked the Centre for not providing due GST share to Jharkhand and using central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and Central Bureau of Investigation to destabilise a democratically elected government.

BJP legislator Bhanu Pratap Shahi attacked the government saying that the "1932 Khatiyan-based domicile policy is the outcome of notices sent to chief minister Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Branding those who work in the interest of the state as "outsiders" has been a policy of the present JMM-led coalition government, he alleged.

Vinod Singh, the CPI-ML legislator, urged the government to expedite the appointment process for the posts, which can be done.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that it was an effort of the government to ensure 100 per cent jobs for locals.

"We wanted to ensure appointments of unemployed youth passed from the government schools...I appeal to the youth to withdraw their agitation as the government is serious about the issue. A delegation of MLAs met the students who have taken to the street and assured them that the government would take all possible steps for their future," he said.

Earlier, as soon as Assembly members assembled for the day, BJP MLAs trooped into the well to protest against government policies.