The state government tabled the third supplementary budget of Rs 2,239 crore on Friday on the second day of the budget session of the Assembly that saw uninterrupted discussions on several issues, including displacement and health.

“The government required funds for many welfare and developmental projects due to which a supplementary budget was brought in,” said parliamentary affairs minister Neelkanth Singh Munda, adding that the supplementary budget, brought in five days before the main budget (for 2019-2020) was to be placed, would be debated on Monday, January 7.

BJP MLAs Biranchi Narayan (Bokaro) and Dhullu Mahto (Baghmara) raised the issue of farmers displacement due to mining operations and were backed by Opposition MLAs.

“BCCL, during expansion of its mining projects in Dhanbad, acquired land of farmers. But they were neither compensated nor given jobs. When farmers raise the issue, BCCL implicates them in false cases. I have come to know about a number of instances when BCCL has filed cases against them. The government should protect its people. Cases are pending for the past 20 years,” said Mahto.

In his reply, land and revenue minister Amar Kumar Bauri said in 1957 the Centre had acquired land, and hence, the state government had a limited role in rehabilitation. “But we will certainly talk to the Centre to ensure compensation and other benefits to the displaced,” he said.

But the BJP MLA was not satisfied with the reply and demanded that the government tell the House the number of times it had raised the issue with Delhi. The Speaker then scheduled a debate on the issue for January 22 and directed minister Bauri to come up with a detailed reply on that day.

Narayan spoke of displacement in Bokaro where 34,000 acre was acquired over the years for Bokaro Steel and for projects of BCCL and CCL and for irrigation purposes.

“Land losers have been fighting for the the past four decades to get compensation and other benefits. This problem is not limited to Bokaro. In fact, all of Jharkhand has been affected with land being acquired without paying compensation. The government should form a displacement commission to look into these issues,” he said.

Intervening in the debate, JMM legislator Stephen Marandi (Maheshpur) alleged that hundreds of families were displaced after their land was acquired for construction of a power plant in Bokaro.

“They were rehabilitated to other places. But ironically, the government has not transferred ownership of land to these people,” he said adding that there was a strong case for creating a displacement commission in Jharkhand where 30 per cent of the population had faced displacement.

Land and revenue minister Bauri, in his reply, said that the Raghubar Das government was sensitive to issues of displacement and rehabilitation. “I want to inform the House that our government has already completed the process to transfer ownership of land to families displaced because of Bokaro power plant.

“In the light of the central legislation, Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the government had in 2015 formed three-layer committees at district, division and state levels, headed by DCs, divisional commissioners and development commissioners receptively, to look into these issues,” he said.

But the minister could answer the question that followed from Marandi, who then asked him whether such committees could hear cases of displacement pertaining to 2013 and before.

Leader of the Opposition Hemant Soren arrives at the state Assembly in Ranchi on Friday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

“It is the duty of the government to protect the interests of citizens. The government can’t run away from its responsibilities by saying land was acquired by the Union government. Also, we can’t trust committees that the minister has spoken about,” Marandi said.

BJP’s MLA Phoolchand Mandal (Sindri) sought a status report on the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Jharkhand. He also asked health minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi whether the government had stopped funding patients under Mukhyamantri Gambhir Bimari Yojana.

Mandal also claimed that patients from Jharkhand enrolled under Ayushman Bharat were denied benefits when they visited hospitals like CMC Vellore.

Chandravanshi said so far 35,000 claims had been registered under Ayushman Bharat in Jharkhand. “Of these, 25,600 have been settled and Rs 35.27 crore paid in all. As far as Mukhyamantri Gambhir Bimari Yojana is concerned, the government had in the past sanctioned Rs 60 crore. Further provisions have been made in the supplementary budget. As for CMC Vellore, it had not applied for empanelment,” the minister clarified.

Congress’ MLA Sukhdeo Bhagat (Lohardaga) raised the issue of faulty recruitments on the basis of the sixth civil service examinations of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission.

Farm loans

In the second half, the House debated the speech delivered by governor Droupadi Murmu on Thursday.

During the debate, the Opposition demanded that the government release the list of hunger deaths in the state.

Congress’s Alamgir Alam sought farm loan waiver and asked how the government planned to implement Mukhyamantri Krishi Ashirvad Yojana without a survey report on the number of farmers in Jharkhand.

The CM said loan waiver was not a long-lasting solution. He said the government wanted to make farmers financially capable. CM Das said the government would ensure a dedicated feeder for farmers for interrupted power supply for at least six hours per day.