Opposition parties in Jharkhand have demanded freedom fighter status for those who had taken part in separate statehood movements.

AJSU MLA Sudesh Mahto during the ongoing budget session on Thursday raised the demand for granting freedom fighter status to separate statehood crusaders in the House. He also demanded that honorarium paid to them should be increased.

State parliamentary affairs and rural development minister Alamgir Alam replying to the query said that at present there is no such policy in the state government. He also informed that there has been slight increase in the honorarium of such crusaders from earlier Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 and from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500.

BJP legislator Navin Jaiswal raised the issue about the refund of Sahara investors’ money in the state. Jaiswal said Rs 2,500 crore of nearly 3 lakh people stuck with the Sahara.

State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon said that the state government was serious about return of Sahara investors' hard-earned money and was keeping a close tab on developments. Oraon said the matter was lying with capital markets regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and the Supreme Court.

He said an amount of about Rs 34,000 crore was lying with SEBI Sahara Refund Account. The amount will be returned to the bondholders after the order of the Supreme Court.

BJP MLA Manish Jaiswal raised the issue of the 7th pay scale of 200 university employees. In response, minister-in-charge Mithlesh Thakur said that university employees would be given the benefit of seventh pay scale very soon.

The minister assured that a meeting of all universities and AGs has been held regarding this.

Earlier, the AG was directed to audit all the universities and submit the annual accounts of the 7th pay scale.

AG has not audited Ranchi and Dumka universities. Other universities are being audited. After the audit report comes, the seventh pay scale will be implemented.

Congress MLA Rajesh Kachhap alleged that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is encroaching on the Kanchi irrigation project. The NHAI is not even following the court’s judgment and the order of the CM’s office.

He said that this project is from 1955-56.

It irrigates 1 lakh hectare of land in 14 villages. The matter is also pending in the high court.

Replying to Kachhap, agriculture minister Badal Patralekh said the NHAI was instructed to shift the road to the left but it is shifting the alignment to the right. Violating the order of the court and the government with its access and lobbying.

On this, the Speaker directed the department to conduct an inquiry and make sure that there should be no encroachment in the interest of the farmers.

Patralekh assured the House that an inquiry would be conducted in the matter and appropriate action would be taken.

Meanwhile, enthused by the results of the Assembly elections in four states, Jharkhand BJP MLAs raised slogans. BJP MLAs hailed Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh. Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand. They also distributed sweets outside the Vidhan Sabha Hall.