Ranchi Mar 26 PTI Hitting out at the Centre over the dues pending from coal PSUs Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday said the state was going through a economic crisis and the BJP-led Union government despite being told about it was doing anything to facilitate the clearanceSoren said that non-payment of Rs 136 lakh crore by the coal companies was impacting the socio-economic development projects in the fund-starved stateDespite repeated consultations with the Coal Ministry and NITI Aayog over the issue of non-payment of long-standing legitimate dues of Rs 136 lakh crore for the mining done by central PSUs the Union government has paid no heed to the matter so far Soren saidRaising the issue in Assembly on Friday Soren had warned that Jharkhand would stop coal supply if the companies do not clear the dues they owe to the stateThis is the states right and we will take it at any cost If we are not given our due we may block supply of coal and minerals from the state the CM had said During the day he tweeted a copy of the letter he sent to Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi highlighting the matterState of Jharkhand is facing a huge economic crisis which is impacting the socio-economic development project and schemes Therefore your kind intervention is required for instructing the coal companies to pay their dues he said in the letterLast year during an Assembly session in September the CM had said that the state could stop work being carried out by Coal India if it failed to make the paymentIn the letter to Joshi he further pointed out Jharkhand is a mineral-rich state and proceedings from coal is the main contributor 80 per cent to its exchequer PTI NAM RMS RMS

Ranchi Feb 25 PTI A National Disaster Response Force NDRF team continued its search operation on Friday to rescue at least 12 people who went missing after a boat capsized in the Barakar river in Jharkhands Jamtara district an official said Unseasonal rain has been hampering the search operation he said An NDRF team comprising 12 to 15 personnel is continuing its search operation to trace the 12 people who have gone missing since last evening after the boat capsized No one has been found yet Jamtara Deputy Commissioner Faiz Ahmed Mumtaz told PTI There were 17 people on the boat when the accident occurred and five of them were rescued by locals he said The boat was going to Berigaon in Jamtara from Berbedia in Nirsa Former MP Furkan Ansari alleged that the accident took place as a bridge over the river in the area has not been repaired after it was damaged a few years ago and people have been forced to take water route to travel The administration is facing difficulties in the rescue operation owing to rain A part of Jharkhand is witnessing a spell of winter rain due to western disturbance PTI NAM BDC BDC

Ranchi Nov 26 PTI The JMM-led ruling dispensation and the opposition BJP on Friday engaged in a war of words over reasons behind the states backwardness after Jharkhand emerged as the second-poorest state in the country at Niti Aayogs Multidimensional Poverty Index MPI Hitting out at the Hemant Soren government the BJP said the dispensation did not implement the central schemes properly as it was busy with transfers and postings In response the ruling JMM sought to know if the saffron camp during its tenure was asleep Bihar Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the poorest states in India according to MPI The report stated that 5191 per cent population of Bihar is poor followed by 4216 per cent in Jharkhand The situation is alarming The JMM-led government in the state failed to implement the Centres policies on food security and pension on the ground Budgetary allocations are barely spent Ever since this JMM-led alliance rode to power it has been busy with transfers and postings so much so that over 200 officials were shifted during the pandemic said BJP state spokesperson Kunal Sarangi Sarangi alleged that the government has completely ignored the interest of the masses Rubbishing the allegation JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya pointed out that the BJP despite ruling the state for the major part of the time since its formation did not do much to alleviate poverty It is the present regime which is making all sorts of policies to address issues of hunger and scarcity Amid the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic the present state government has started programmes like Aapke Adhikar Aapki Sarkar Aapke Dwar Your rights your government at your door aimed at resolving issues related to government schemes Bhattacharya said Admitting that many children in the state still suffer from malnutrition he said a slew of initiatives are being taken to improve the situation and the change will be visible in a few years Echoing him state Congress spokesperson Alok Dubey claimed that the incumbent government is focused on all-round development of the state like never before Terming the Niti Aayog report a realistic one state finance minister and Congress leader Rameshwar Oraon said 15 lakh ration cards have been distributed among people while 13 lakh residents of the state have already benefitted from the pension scheme A number of schemes have also been launched for the farmers he said adding that jobs were being provided to the poor In the 2019 Assembly elections the JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal RJD alliance trounced the BJP winning 47 seats in the 81-member House PTI NAM RMS RMS

Ranchi Nov 21 PTI Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh has said that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing that the three contentious farm laws will be revoked democracy has won and crores of farmers got justice He alleged that the Centres decision to revoke the laws after more than a year of farmers protests and the death of more than 700 agitators was taken keeping in mind the upcoming assembly elections in several states The bills were unconstitutionally passed in the Parliament without discussion and even farmers were not consulted Agriculture is a state subject but there was no discussion in the state legislative assemblies But now the BJP-led Union government took the U-turn after their dismal performance in recent assembly by-elections the Congress leader told reporters on Saturday He said that this was an initial victory of the farmers and the movement for their rights will continue PTI IKD ACD ACD