Lohardaga MP Sukhdev Bhagat today raised the demand for the Sarna dharma code to be included in the census during the Question Hour of Monsoon session which started today. Bhagat said that demand for Sarna religious code is a very sensitive and tribal identity issue. Crores of tribals live in India. Tribals who are worshippers of nature are not counted by the government. On one hand, the government counts wild animals, birds, noises but does not count the religious identity of the tribals. “I appeal that Sarna religion code should be marked in the census column to protect the religious identity of the tribals and their identity,” said Bhagat.

In 2020, the Jharkhand assembly had passed a resolution demanding the Sarna dharma code to be included in the census and submitted it to the Centre via the state governor. The Centre is yet to take a call on the contentious issue. Soren leads a JMM-Congress-RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) coalition government in the state.

In 2023, Soren had also written letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking recognition of Sarna religious code for tribals. In the three-page letter, Soren had stressed that the population of tribals in the State has declined from 38%to 26% in the last eight decades. 

He also said that decline in the population would have an adverse effect on the policies of tribal development under the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

This is not the first time that Bhagat has raided the demand for Sarna religious code, Sukhdev Bhagat of Congress, who was elected as MP from Lohardaga parliamentary seat, had even taken oath as member of parliament in a unique way on the first day of the Parliament session. Sukhdev Bhagat took oath of office and secrecy by taking the name of Sarna instead of saying Ishwar. It is worth mentioning that Sukhdev Bhagat had promised in the elections that he would raise his voice in the House on the first day of the Parliament session itself for the demand of Sarna Dharma Code. It is worth mentioning that on the first day of the Parliament session, Sukhdev Bhagat reached the Parliament House with a placard demanding Sarna Dharma Code. He also staged a dharna with the placard and said that the government should implement it immediately.

The tribal community wants the central government to give them a column to indicate their religion in various documents, in which Sarna Dharma is mentioned.

It is worth noting that during the election campaign, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had also promised in Basia of Gumla that if the All India Alliance government is formed, then Sarna Dharma Code will be implemented on the very first day.