The Hindu : Munda non-committal on reservation to locals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 03, 2003

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Other States - Jharkand

Munda non-committal on reservation to locals

RANCHI MAY 2. The Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today categorically said his Government was not in favour of fixing any cut off year for defining the locals in Jharkhand.

Addressing a Press conference here, he said all residents of Jharkhand who identified themselves with the State's culture and language were ``local residents'' and eligible for employment in Government jobs.

To a query he said knowledge of language and culture would help identify a person as a local resident of Jharkhand, apparently putting an end to the controversy over a local resident being one who figured in the last survey of land rights as announced by former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi.

``Every citizen of India has the right to work anywhere in the country, as domiciliary status cannot differ from State to State,'' he said.

Refusing to be further dragged into any controversy over the issue of locals, he said ``I have said whatever I had to, please do not put words in my mouth to make the matter worse.''

The newspersons had sought to know from the Chief Minister whether the Government, in the light of the High Court's directive, had already defined a local resident of Jharkhand or planned to do so for extending preferential treatment in the proposed appointment of 10,000 school teachers by June this year.

The issue of ``local residents'' had sparked off a controversy across the state in July with the past Government defining them as those who figured in the last survey of land rights. The last survey was conducted around 1932 in most of the areas of Jharkhand.

The past Government's definition had sparked violent clashes across the state between the aboriginals and the migrant settlers taking at least five lives and damaging Government property worth over lakhs.

The tension had, however, subsided when the High Court intervened turning down the Government's decision to identify locals on the basis of land rights. The Court, in its order delivered last November, had directed the state to redefine the locals. It also laid a few guidelines including the knowledge of culture and language.

An apolitical organisation of the tribals and the non tribal inhabitants of this nascent State - the Adivasi-Moolwasi Janadhikar Manch - had recently convened an impressive rally here - The Khatiyani Rally - to press the State Government for considering only those who figured in the survey of land rights conducted in 1932 as the local residents of Jharkhand and to extend at least ninety per cent reservation to them in the class three and four government jobs.

This fresh demand of the Manch has been strongly objected by a the Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation of the migrant settlers. Even a cabinet minister has lodged his protest against the locals being defined on the basis of land records conducted in 1932. -- UNI

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Munda non-committal on reservation to locals