Dream for Jharkhand yet to be fulfilled: Das

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Saturday said the dream for which the tribal state was created 18 years ago was yet to be fulfilled and political leaders had become rich in the first 14 years due to coalition politics in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government run by Das in Jharkhand will complete four years on December 28.

By then, all households in the state would be electrified, the chief minister said during an interaction with the people of Samsera village in Pakur district of Santhal Pargana.

Solar power will be provided to the households and villages located atop hills or in remote areas, he said, adding that electricity will be provided round the clock by May, 2019.

"For 14 years, coalition politics ruled during which the leaders became rich while the people fell behind.... The dream for which Jharkhand was created is yet to be fulfilled," an official release quoted Das as saying.

"We can speed up development through peace and harmony. No anti-national force should make any effort to break peace. The government has kept a vigil on such forces, which will be crushed," the chief minister said.

"Extremism is breathing its last (in Jharkhand). The state police has done a great work. The youngsters who have deviated in the name of extremism should join the mainstream and participate in the development work," Das said.

Elaborating on Jharkhand's development, the chief minister said for 14 years, the youngsters of the tribal communities were ignored and his government gave jobs to one lakh of them in the last four years.

"In the coming days, another one lakh youngsters will be given jobs," he added.

Stating that his government was working to empower women, Das said it was providing two cows to women on a 90-per cent subsidy, besides other benefits.

He called upon farmers to focus on multiple cropping and asked youngsters to join in milk and honey production.

The government will provide an additional Rs 50 crore, besides the budget allocated for the Santhal Pargana region, Das said and handed over the benefits of the goat-rearing scheme, housing scheme, Ujjwala Yojana, besides Rs 30,000 to fishermen for buying two-wheelers.

Criticising the Opposition for saying there would be a loot of land if the BJP came back to power in Jharkhand, Das said there was no such incident and alleged that the leaders who had said this had flouted the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, bought tribal land, and spread corruption and middlemen in the Santhal Pargana region.

"Everybody should join hands in developing the Santhal Pargana region and Jharkhand. We (BJP) do not indulge in divisive, caste, communal politics. The government is working with an aim to take development works to the last person in the state," Das said.