Jamshedpur: Hundreds of people comprising members and supporters of Jharkhandwasi Asmita Manch took out a march on foot from Agrico ground to the office of the deputy commissioner (DC) at Sakchi on Friday to demand domicile status for people residing in Jharkhand since before 15th November 2000.
Leading the agitators, the outfit convenor Anand Bihari Dubey demanded domicile status for the people of the state who have been residing in Jharkhand since the day of statehood. He said the government should not make khatiyan as the deciding document to give domicile status to the residents. He said the khatiyan should not be made the document necessary to ascertain the domicile status of the people.
�The proposed domicile policy of the state government is discriminatory in nature and it threatens to disrupt the social fabric of Jharkhand. The government should immediately do away with such a controversial policy and incorporate the demands being raised by the people who have long been living in this state and contributing to its development,� said Dubey.
A five-point memorandum was handed over to the DC Dr Amitabh Kaushal by the agitators who raised slogans on the domicile issue and protested against any attempt to make the issue political in nature.
They said the demand for domicile status to the people living in the state since before its coming into existence was fully justified and should not be tampered with in a bid to pacify a handful of people having vested interest in the issue.
The other demands raised by the outfit members pertained to seeking third and fourth grade jobs to the people of the state on the basis of birth certificate, residential certificate and primary education. Demands for opening industrial training institutes and medical and engineering colleges were also made by the agitators.
The agitators included Mithilesh Prasad Srivastava, Birbal Tiwary, Shishir Kumar Jha, Rakesh Sahu, Parmanand Jha, Yamuna Tiwary, Appu Tiwary and BL Sahu.
