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Union Minister and CM hold meeting with allies on key issues
Ranchi: Jharkhand will get a powerful Lokayukta (ombudsman) by 15th February. This was announced on Saturday by the Union rural development minister Hemant Soren following a meeting with the political allies of the state government and Independent MLAs.
The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Congress in-charge of the state BK Hari Prasad, state Congress president Sukhdev Bhagat, state minister Rajendra Prasad Singh and many other legislators.
Speaking after the meeting, Ramesh said many crucial issues related to the functioning of the state government and development of Jharkhand were discussed at length during the meeting.
The allies of the government unanimously decided to expedite development works and complete the procedure regarding the appointment of a powerful Lokayukta in the state within the set deadline.
�The Parliament has recently passed the new Lokayukta Act. It will also help fight corruption in the state if it is passed in its current form by the Assembly,� Ramesh said.
Ramesh said the panchayats of the state were still far away from getting their rights. �Although elections have been held for the panchayats after 32 years in the state, the panchayats have not been given their due powers. We have decided in today�s meeting to provide all rights to the panchayats as enshrined in the Constitution,� he said.
Among various issues, the issue of sandcrisis and settlement of sand ghats in the state was also raised and discussed during the meeting.
It was decided that the previous decision taken on the issue by the state Cabinet will be implemented. The Cabinet had recently decided that no changes will be made in the system of sand mining in the state. Clear instructions will be given to the deputy commissioners of all districts in the state in this regard, Ramesh said.
The Union minister went on to add that the Tribal Advisory Council will be formed in the state by 15th January. The meeting of TAC will be convened within 10 days to discuss various issues related to the rights of the tribal people pertaining to land and forest along with education and health.
Ramesh said the state government will take a decision on regularization of parateachers within one and a half month. The procedure of appointment of teachers will also be completed during this period. A consensus has been reached among the Cabinet ministers to restart all 56 affiliated colleges shut down for a long time through grants.
The issues of Indira Awas allotment, pension to poor people, domicile policy, Sarna Code, various welfare schemes and other important tasks of the state government were also discussed during the meeting.
Ramesh, praising the government, said it had functioned satisfactorily so far and had a lot more to do till before elections. He said all allies should work together to speed up the pace of development works and achieve the goals before deadline.
Ministers should avoid controversial statements: Ramesh
Ranchi: Several alliance partners of the state government today raised objections to the statements being issued by some of the ministers on various issues for the first time after more than five months of formation of the government.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Janardan Paswan said the image of the government was being damaged due to the �irresponsible� behavior of some ministers.
Replying to his, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said the issue was discussed during the meeting held yesterday with all ministers and legislators. He said the ministers had been asked to avoid making controversial statements.