Had Centre cleared coal royalty dues, would have given Rs 3 lakh to Jharkhand’s women: Soren

Jamshedpur, Oct 5 (PTI) Asserting that coal royalty of Rs 1.36 lakh crore was pending with the Centre, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday said had his government got that money, women of the state would have been given Rs 3 lakh.

Addressing a rally at Baliguma in East Singhbhum district after inaugurating the new building of MGM Medical College and Hospital, Soren alleged the opposition BJP has tried to throw a spanner in every work undertaken by his government.

“They had miserably failed to do any good for the women of the state when they were in power and now they are raising fingers at us over the Mainya Samman Yojana.

They have even approached the judiciary to stop it. Why did the BJP not bring any scheme for women during their tenure,” he questioned.

Referring to the BJP’s promise of Rs 2,100 per month for the women of the state, Soren claimed that it was just a means to get mileage before the assembly elections due later this year.

“Jharkhand has an abundance of mineral reserve but the people are poor,” he said, asking the Centre to clear Rs 1.36 lakh crore of coal royalty dues.

“Had we got the amount, we would have been able to deposit Rs 3 lakh in the bank accounts of the women. The women of the state are now getting Rs 1,000 per month under the Mainya Samman Yojana,” he added.

Soren said that when his government framed an employment policy based on the 1932 land survey record, a case was filed against it as well.

“An hour after our government came to power in 2019, BJP started playing all tricks to dethrone us,” he claimed, alleging that the opposition party was now indulging in communal politics.

“Identify the conspirators and teach them a lesson in the upcoming elections,” he told the gathering.

Soren also inaugurated the OPD at the new building of the state-run hospital, as well as a library and a convention centre.

The new building was developed at Rs 376 crore and would increase the capacity of the hospital to 700 beds from the present 500, officials said.

“We had witnessed horrific times during the COVID pandemic. It was a curse, particularly for a backward state like Jharkhand. Everything came to a standstill and people remained indoors. But our government had handled the situation properly and brought all the migrant labourers back home,” he said.

“The state’s public health infrastructure was not adequate. There was a shortage of medicines and doctors. But, we not only tackled the situation successfully but also supplied oxygen to the rest of the country from Jamshedpur and Bokaro,” Soren said, adding that at that point in time, his government decided to improve the MGM Hospital.

He announced that the foundation of another hospital would soon be laid in Ranchi.