The Jharkhand of 2024

Changes that used to take thousands of years are now happening in just a few years. Due to scientific innovation (Invention) and technology, India and the world are in a new era of progress and development. 

Several states in India are in fierce competition to have a greater share in the new world's economy and technology, as this is the future. In the 2024 Jharkhand Assembly elections, Jharkhand is going to write its future destiny. 

What are the people's issues or real public questions, the fundamental challenges and ground-level crises, whose resolution can only help Jharkhand get its rightful place in the country and the world? This article series by Harivansh will discuss those 'people's issues'.

Editor 

The 24-year-old Jharkhand is now ready to select its leaders

By Harivansh 

Senior Journalist 

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

11 years prior and until 16 years after becoming the state of Jharkhand, 27 years in total, the writer has observed Jharkhand closely.

24-year-old Jharkhand is once again in the throes of selecting its leaders (MLAs) for the fifth time. In this short span (November 2000 - November 2024), Jharkhand, which has seen its infancy, childhood, adolescence, and youth, has also witnessed President's Rule three times. Now, after 13 Chief Ministers, the state's 2.60 crore voters (1.31 crore male and 1.29 crore female) are in the process of choosing their 14th. For the first time, they will be using EVMs to decide the fate of their representatives. There are 11.84 lakh new young voters. Compared to the 2019 Assembly elections (2.23 crore voters), there will be an additional 37 lakh voters this time. While the voter turnout in the 2014 Assembly elections was 66.6%, it was 66.4% in the 2019 Assembly elections.

Source: India votes

According to the World Health Organization, adolescence is the period between the ages of 10 and 19. Individuals aged 15 to 24 are considered 'youth'. Research finding by Brookings Institution suggests that significant achievements between the ages of 14 and 24 pave the way for future aspirations. Grand edifices are built on the foundation of early progress. This is an established, historically verified truth and fact. Dharti Aaba Birsa Munda, in just twenty-four years (born November 15, 1875, died June 9, 1900), challenged the British Empire. He challenged an empire that had a global reach and seemed invincible.

Where is Jharkhand today, 24 years later? On the night of November 15, 2000, infant Jharkhand was restless, eager to 'write a new destiny'. The midnight fervor, the dance, the music, the jubilation, and the determination to build a future are etched in the memories of those who witnessed it. This enthusiasm and energy fueled by the belief that the state blessed with the most abundant natural resources in the country, would no longer remain 'the poorest'. It would realize the epithet of 'Ruhr of India'. In just 24 years, Jharkhand aimed to reclaim its top position, following in the footsteps of its ancestral hero, Dharti Aaba. Economists, industrial experts, and entrepreneurs had centuries ago dubbed this southern part of Bihar the 'Ruhr of India'. Why? The Ruhr Valley in Germany, surrounded by the Ruhr, Rhine, and Lippe rivers, is endowed with mineral wealth. It has become a hub for many of the world's largest industries. Experts saw the same potential in this mineral-rich region surrounded by the Koyal, Damodar, and Swarnarekha rivers.

After nearly two and a half decades of its journey, what are the issues facing Jharkhand's voters? What are the issues before all parties, intellectuals, and socially concerned sections? According to government data, Jharkhand houses 40% of the country's mineral wealth. Despite being rich in coal, bauxite, iron ore, mica, and uranium, as per NITI Aayog's 2021 data, it is the second poorest state in the country with a poverty rate of 42.26%. Migration from this mineral-rich state is alarming. According to the 'Impact of MGNREGA Study' (2017), between 2001 and 2011, 50 lakh youth migrated from here in search of work. 

Continued on page 9. (These are the author's own views). 

Despite having 150 coal mines, the state must buy electricity from outside. Read tomorrow...

Remainder of Page One

24-year-old Jharkhand is ready to choose... Per capita income at current prices

After deforestation and mining, the failure to refill and rehabilitate mines, along with the lack of reforestation, has caused severe environmental damage to Jharkhand. Once, there was a dense forest like Saranda. There was a saying about its old and massive trees, that, the sunlight could not reach the ground due to their density. Now, that forest is losing its essence. Other forest areas in Jharkhand are also losing their vitality. In the 23 years since November 2000, Jharkhand has faced drought 15 times. Eight of Jharkhand's 32 tribes are on the verge of extinction. The large-scale migration of the Paharia tribe from Santhal Pargana is a testament to this. Dozens of mountains, millions of years old, have been cut down and sold. In these past two decades, among these, there are mountains that renowned scientists like Professor Birbal Sahni had identified as 'fossils’ -mountains and rocks that held the hidden history and past of the Earth. Born in Pakistan, Professor Sahni had a deep interest in geology and archaeology. In 1946, he established the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow. In the 19th century, Francis Buchanan and Hamilton had visited these hills of Raajmahal and described them as marvelous.

When Jharkhand separated from Bihar, the slogan on the streets of Jharkhand was, "What's left in Bihar? ... Just a leader's name, potatoes, and sand!" The rule under which Bihar was then governed had become synonymous, worldwide, with kidnapping, crime, and anarchy—a 'total collapse of governance'. The impact of this was also felt in this southern part of Bihar. In this environment, full of anticipation, excitement, and a determination to write a new destiny, Jharkhand emerged at midnight on November 15, 2000. Jharkhand was not formed alone; three new states were created simultaneously: Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh. In these two and a half decades, based on the current price, Jharkhand's per capita income has lagged not only Bihar but also Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, and even Odisha. Remember, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were smaller parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, respectively. But Jharkhand was a larger part of Bihar, where all the major industrial units were developed and established during the Bihar era.

Translated by Santosh Deepak 

Courtesy: Dainik Bhaskar

Edited by : Smita DeyTarafder