Can Das govt end domicile policy pangs?

RANCHI: More than a decade after Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar to facilitate development of tribal people, a policy will finally be in black and white that aims to define the indigenous population and safeguard its rights.
However, defining ‘local people’, a contentious issue since the inception of the state in 2000, will not be an easy task for the Raghubar Das government that is still etching the contours of the policy.
While tribal parties, like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, are of the view that benefits must be extended to ‘moolvaasis and aadivasis’ and not to those who have settled in Jharkhand in due course of time, national parties, including the BJP, want to set a settlement deadline close to the formation of Jharkhand as has been in the case of Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
The committee formed under the last finance minister, Rajendra Prasad Singh, could not submit its final recommendations in the wake of the model code of conduct after elections were declared in the state.
According to sources in the government, the committee has recommended adhering to the last land survey records for identifying locals, and in case of landless individuals, identification by at least five members of the respective gram sabhas who have their names in the last land survey record. According to the Census 2011, tribals constitute less than 30% (26.2%) of the population.
Chief minister Raghubar Das, while answering questions raised by Opposition during the budget session, had announced the formulation of a policy in a couple of months “after thorough consultation with all political parties”.
“We are committed to introducing domicile policy, and for that, the recommendations of the committee formed by the previous (Hemant Soren) government will be considered as baseline,” Das told TOI.
Chief whip Radha Krishna Kishore (BJP), however, believes that while defining locals, the spirit of the constitution should not be ignored. “It will not be logical to fix a cut-off date in 1930s as those left out or not having property during that survey will be deprived of their rights,” he said.
In 2002, when Babulal Marandi was chief minister, the domicile policy stated that tribals holding land records of 1932 would be preferred for government jobs. The policy was later struck down by the Jharkhand high court.
Ratan Tirkey, formerly with Jharkhand Janadhikar Morcha, strongly believes that when tribals born in Bihar are not considered Biharis, there should now be a policy that allows acceptance of ‘outsiders’ born here as ‘Jharkhandis’. “Tribals and moolvasis should get the benefits, and not outsiders,” he said.
“In united sathal pargana the survey took place in 1935 whereas in West Singhbhum, the last land survey was in 1964 indicating that there would be different cut-off dates for different places,” said Surya Singh Besra, an activist of the Jharkhand statehood movement, suggesting that following the model of Andhra Pradesh special provision for giving reservation to locals for 20-year period may be considered.