The Jharkhand Assembly passed a resolution in favour of a Sarna Adivasi Code at a special session held on Wednesday with both ruling and treasury benches extending support to the draft that will now be sent to the Union government to seek its implementation during the 2021 national census.

Chief minister Hemant Soren tabled the draft on the floor of the House at around 1.12pm for discussion. However, the original draft titled “Adivasis/Sarna Code” met with objections with a few MLAs from the ruling alliance and the Opposition asking that the slash be removed from the title to read Adivasi Sarna Code.

Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey, who joined Congress this year after winning on a now defunct JVM-P in the 2019 Assembly elections, put forth the demand first. Soon, BJP’s Khunti MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda also raised objections, demanding the title be changed to Sarna Adivasi Code, or simply, “Sarna Code”.

After a discussion, the chief minister said that the proposal which would be sent to the Centre would be named Sarna Adivasi Code. All members agreed.

The 81-member Assembly has an effective strength of 80 after the demise of a JMM MLA recently. During Wednesday’s proceedings, about 70 MLAs attended. The rest were either away from Ranchi or were down with Covid-19.

In his address, chief minister Hemant stressed that a separate code for tribals would go a long way in preserving their identity, religion and cultural diversity. “Reports suggest that the tribal population is on the decline nationally for the last few decades, and hence there is an urgent need to first assess their real population, religious affiliations among others, to understand the situation better and take corrective steps,” he said.

Hemant said that providing a separate identity to those who follow Sarna (nature worshippers) would also send a positive message to the world about India’s commitment towards conservation of nature. “For Sarna tribals, jal, jungle and jameen (land, forest and land) are gods. Nature and environment are almighty. At a time when conservation is a global concern, it’s apt to recognise those who consider nature as their god. Therefore, we appeal to the Union government to include a separate column in next year’s census for Sarna,” he said.

State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, who is at a private city hospital undergoing treatment for Covid19, called the day historic. “The incumbent regime led by JMM-Congress-RJD in its poll manifesto had vowed to put in place a Sarna code. The Congress party has always been standing in support of this long pending demand of tribals. It is a historic day for Jharkhand to pass a resolution in its support. We hope the Union government too exhibits urgency to accept our demands this time,” he said in a statement.

Oraon recalled that Sarna was recognised as a separate religion till the 1950s but during the census in 1961-62, the separate code was removed. “In 2011, as many as 50 lakh tribals across the country had put their religion as Sarna in the ‘others’ column,” he said.

Mandar MLA Tirkey, who had earlier asked that the word, Adivasi, not be mentioned in the draft resolution, sounded convinced now. “It has become Sarna Adivasi Code, which is even better. Sarna is preceded by Adivasi and without a slash,” he said over the phone.

Wednesday’s special Assembly session was convened in the wake of an avalanche of protests by various tribal groups to demand a Sarna code. The chief minister agreed to send a proposal to the Centre in the last week of October.

The Congress and JMM welcomed the move. Party spokesperson Alok Dubey said, “One by one, the state government is fulfilling promises made to voters. Today’s (Wednesday) development is another step in that direction. We now hope the BJP-led Union government will exhibit its commitment towards tribals and the state of Jharkhand. Union home minister Amit Shah during poll rallies in 2019 in Jharkhand promised a Sarna code. It’s time to fulfil it.”

During the session, newly elected MLAs of Dumka and Bermo — Basant Soren (JMM) and Kumar Jaimangal (Congress) — were administered the oath of office by Speaker Rabindranath Mahto.