Jharkhand: Congress accuses Modi of depriving tribals of religious identity

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Jharkhand, the Congress on Sunday, 15 September, asked why are the people of Jamshedpur still facing the problem of "poor connectivity" and also accused the PM of depriving the tribals their religious identity and refusing to recognise the Sarna Code.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also asked why the Adityapur Industrial Area had not received environmental clearance yet.

"The non-biological PM is in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand today. He should answer these three questions to the people of Jharkhand," Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X.

Why are the people of Jamshedpur still facing the problem of poor connectivity, he asked.

Ramesh said that despite being an industrial hub, Jamshedpur is facing the problem of poor transport connectivity.

"The number of trains running to major cities like Bhagalpur, Bengaluru and Delhi is not sufficient. The city had a functional airport till 2016 but despite joining the UDAN scheme in 2018, the plan for a new airport did not materialise," he said.

An MoU was signed between the Jharkhand government and the Airports Authority of India in January 2019 to build the Dhalbhumgarh airport by December 2022, he said.

This will give a good boost to MSMEs in Adityapur, including major industrial players like Tata, he added.

"When the work did not happen by the stipulated deadline of December 2022, the BJP's own MPs were forced to raise the issue in Parliament. On February 27, 2023, the Union Civil Aviation Minister responded and confirmed that the project had been abandoned," Ramesh said.

Now, after a lot of hard work, environmental clearances seem to be on the way, he said.

Why did the central government ignore such a crucial infrastructure in Jharkhand and what happened to "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas", Ramesh asked.

He further asked why has the Adityapur Industrial Area not received environmental clearance yet.

"More than half of the Adityapur Industrial Area - “ an important industrial hub of Jamshedpur - has been under regulatory purview since 2015. This Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has 1,200 units. These include 11 large, 64 small and 166 other units," he said.

In 2015, the Jharkhand State Industries Department gave clarification regarding 54 acres of forest land within the 276-acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Adityapur Industrial Area but the central government has hindered its development by delaying the grant of forest and environmental clearances, he alleged.

While this project is in limbo, the Modi government approved a Rs 14,000 crore SEZ project for Adani Power in Godda in 2019, Ramesh said.

"Why is it that the Adityapur industrial area had to wait for almost 10 years while Adani's projects were fast-tracked? Was the deal fuelled by the black money tempo that the non-biological Prime Minister told us about?" the Congress leader said.

Why did the PM deprive the Adivasis of their religious identity and refuse to recognise the Sarna Code, he asked.

"The Adivasi communities of Jharkhand have been practising the Sarna religion for years. They have been demanding official recognition of their distinct religious identity in India. But, the recent decision to remove the 'other' option from the religion column of the census has created a dilemma for Sarna followers," Ramesh said.

They will now have to either choose one of the religions available in the options or leave the column blank, he claimed.

In November 2020, the Jharkhand Assembly passed a resolution supporting this demand for recognition of a distinct religious identity, he pointed out.

"Despite former BJP chief minister Raghubar Das' assurance to implement the Sarna Code by 2021 and a similar promise by home minister Amit Shah in 2019, there has been no significant progress in the central government on this issue," he said.

"Today, when the non-biological prime minister is in Jharkhand, will he address this issue and clarify his stand on implementing the Sarna Code? Were the promises of Raghubar Das and Amit Shah mere rhetoric?" Ramesh said.