The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) manifesto, which the party released on Saturday, focused on addressing unemployment, glitches in rehabilitation of displaced families, and preservation of tribal rights and forests.

Releasing the Nischay Patra at his residence in Ranchi, JMM’s Executive President Hemant Soren said, “We have drafted our manifesto keeping the condition of backwards, tribals, dalits and women in mind. Our manifesto targets at generating employment, eradicating poverty and ensuring a respectful life for every person of the country and the state irrespective of his community and creed.”

The party, through its manifesto for the 17th General Elections, promises to repeal the changes brought by the incumbent NDA government to land acquisition laws and tighten the noose around mine excavation companies involved in rampant deforestation in Jharkhand.

“JMM will give priority to tourism over mining if voted to power. This will also provide employment to youths by giving them an opportunity to showcase the tribal culture,” the manifesto said.

The party promised to constitute a rehabilitation commission to address the problems of families that are displaced during different development projects. Jharkhand has had a history of issues related to rehabilitation of displaced slum dwellers, forest dwellers and the ones encroaching government lands. The problem continues to haunt policy makers even today.  

Employment agendas got the lion’s share in the party’s manifesto. JMM promised to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs, free application of State’s candidates in government jobs and also free of cost travel for candidates appearing in different examinations. The party plans to introduce reservation in private jobs and ensure jobs for Jharkhand’s unemployed youths in private companies under Corporate Social Responsibility.

“The current state of unemployment in the country is the worst since independence. Our party wishes to change this situation by introducing effective employment policies,” Soren said.

Not only did the party support its ally, Congress party’s promise of providing a minimum annual income of Rs.72,000 to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, but also promised to pay an additional Rs.50,000 per annum to the women of BPL families in Jharkhand for self-employment. Under MGNREGA, JMM will ensure 150 day’s guaranteed income to labourers, the manifesto said.

The party also plans to recommend changes to income tax exemption slab and revise it to Rs.8 lakh for men and Rs.10 lakh for women. The manifesto said that if voted to power, JMM will bring petroleum goods under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to cut down their price.

One of the key agendas of the party, the manifesto said, was to address malnutrition, which is a major concern in Jharkhand. The incumbent government has faced flak in the past for making Aadhaar mandatory for beneficiaries to avail benefits of National Food Security Act. The JMM’s manifesto said that the party will ensure that Aadhaar is not mandatory in the Public Distribution System here.

The JMM, in the introduction to its manifesto, slammed the incumbent government of encouraging intolerance, restricting the freedom of press and equating anti-government statements with anti-national statements. It claimed that around 10,000 farmers committed suicide in the past five years in India and ministers only made tall promises of investments to the tunes of several hundred crores.