By Devendra Kumar Nayan
Our beloved Jharkhand turned 20 on November 15. Our civilizational culture and heritage is incomparable, it is just a necessity to maintain it.
Our gold is Jharkhand only where our culture is young at the beat of the temple. Our culture is associated with fruits, flowers and forests.
Despite our limited resources, our Jharkhand is paramount, our Jharkhand is full of mineral wealth.
We have not got this Jharkhand so easily. The state of Jharkhand was created on November 15, 2000 as the 28th state of the Union of India. Jharkhand is the homeland of the tribals. Jharkhand consists mainly of the Chota Nagpur Plateau and the forested areas of Santhal Parganas. It has its own distinct cultural traditions.
The Adivasi Mahasabha, formed around 1930, dreamed of a separate ‘Jharkhand’ led by Jaipal Singh Munda, in the year 2000, the central government divided the southern part of Bihar on November 15 (on the birthday of tribal hero Birsa Munda) of Jharkhand region. Created and Jharkhand became the 28th state of India.
According to its name, it is basically a forest region which was created as a result of Jharkhand movement (later known as Vananchal movement by some). Due to the abundant availability of minerals, it is also called ‘Garur’ of India, which is famous as the state of mineral in Germany.
The history of the state of Jharkhand has been more than 100 years old, Indian hockey player and captain of Indian hockey team in Olympic Games, Jai Singh Munda, in 1939 AD, thought of merging some southern districts of present Bihar state into a new state. Was. However, this dream of Jai Singh Munda came true on 2 October 2000 when the bill for giving separate statehood to Jharkhand was passed in the Parliament and then on 15 November of the same year, Jharkhand became the 28th state of India.
The tribals of Jharkhand region have their own distinct identity and culture. At the political level, the Jharkhand Party was formed in 1938 under the leadership of Jaipal Singh. After this, the demand for a separate state gained momentum. Jharkhand Party had a strong presence in all tribal districts in the first general election. When the State Reorganization Commission was formed, there was a demand for Jharkhand which included the areas of Odisha and West Bengal apart from the erstwhile Bihar. The Commission rejected Jharkhand’s claim as there was no common language in the region. In the 1950s, the Jharkhand Party played the role of the largest opposition party in Bihar. But later its power began to wane. The biggest shock to the Jharkhand movement came in 1963 when Jaipal Singh merged the Jharkhand Party with the Congress. After this, many small Jharkhand Namdhari parties emerged in Chhotanagpur area. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was established in 1972 in Dhanbad. Today, JMM is in power in Jharkhand.
Shibu Soren, president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, launched a movement against zamindari and usury practices in the Tundi area of Dhanbad between the 60s and 70s. In 1969, he founded an organization called Sonat Santhal Samaj. Later in 1972, Soren along with Vinod Bihari Mahato and AK Rai established the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Dhanbad. Subsequently, Soren launched a separate Jharkhand state movement.
Jharkhand, which was separated from Bihar on 15 November 2000 with 54 percent poverty and backwardness, is constantly trying to reach the national level of development. Poverty has reduced, the growth rate of the state has been higher than the national average for a certain period. Per capita income has increased. While doing a comparative study of the state and national average in the special action plan prepared by the government for development, it has been said that even if the current rate of growth continues, it will take up to 2030 to reach the national average. At the time of unified Bihar, separate budgetary provision was made for the scheduled areas of Jharkhand. From the revenue point of view, 55 percent of Bihar’s total income was received from Jharkhand region. Despite this, due to lack of proper importance, the area of Jharkhand had gone backward. After the partition of Bihar, the then government of Jharkhand made a budget of Rs 7,174.12 crore in the financial year 2001-02. Despite the state being backward and 54 percent poverty, the government publicized its first budget as a surplus budget (more revenue than expenditure). However, the Accountant General (AG), after the audit, termed the budget of fiscal year 2001-02 as deficit budget.
The per capita income in the state was Rs 10,451 in the financial year 2001-02. The national average of per capita income at that time was Rs 16,764. That is, the national average was only 62.34 percent. Due to the work done by the government in other areas including economic, social, the per capita income increased steadily. The state’s per capita income increased from Rs 10,451 to Rs 54,140 in the financial year 2015-16. During the same period the national average of per capita income increased to Rs 77,435. That is, in 2015-16, the per capita income in Jharkhand increased from 62.34 percent to 69.92 percent as against the national average.
At the same time, between 2012 and 2016, the average growth rate of the state also improved.
The state’s average growth rate improved between the financial years 2012-13 to 2015-16. The average growth rate of the state during this period was 8.59 and the national average growth rate was 6.76. In the special action plan prepared for the development of the state, after studying the growth rate of the state and the national average, it has been said that if both continue to grow at the same rate, then the state will take up to 2030 to reach the national average. .
This Jharkhand of ours is also called the land of forests, Jharkhand has abundant inaccessible hills and forests. The state is also well known for evergreen forests, rolling hills, and rocky plateaus. Our state also has some beautiful waterfalls.
A few centuries ago, Jharkhand was full of sal trees, there were so many trees that it was difficult to reach the turtle areas here. However, Jharkhand grew considerably in search of hidden mineral wealth and became the main industrial area of India. On the other hand, due to the mine area, railways and roadways, Jharkhand has overtaken very fast.
There are many educational and technical institutes here which come in good quality and help in making this state the best.
Tourism in Jharkhand is a kaleidoscope of culture, people, nature and language. The capital of Jharkhand is Ranchi and is visited by tourists in large numbers. There are many attractions like – Ranchi Hill, Sun Temple and others. There are many wildlife sanctuaries like Betla National Park, Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary etc. which are special for Jharkhand tourism. Jharkhand is rich in flora and fauna. The National Park and Zoological Garden are located in the state of Jharkhand. The Betla National Park is located in Latehar district which has a large variety of wildlife. Apart from the diverse flora and fauna, the Palamu Tiger Reserve is also found in Jharkhand which falls under Project Tiger. This reserved habitat has a variety of flora and fauna. The Hazaribagh wildlife sanctuary here is very beautiful.
Jawaharlal Nehru Biological Park is located in Bokaro Steel City in Zoological Gardens in Jharkhand. The garden, spread over an area of 200 acres and has a wide variety of fauna and birds. The lake of Kritri water and ferrying facilities are also available here. There is also another zoo – Birsa Munda Biological Park which is 16 km from Ranchi. It is located at a distance of many places and many types of mammals are found here, due to which tourists definitely come for a walk here.
Being a tribal state, Jharkhand has given special importance to nature and culture in every region of the state. Here the branches of the sacred tree are purchased and planted in the courtyard of the house. Devotees worship this part of the tree as God and consider them as the form of Goddess and Goddess.
(The author is civil engineer cum young writer based in Deoghar. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author. He can be reached at nayankumar4321@gmail.com)
