JMM stages statewide protests against MMDR Amendment Act, BJP launches awareness drive
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) workers on Saturday staged demonstrations at all 264 block headquarters across the state’s 24 districts, protesting against the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026.
The party raised slogans against the Centre and said its agitation would continue until the BJP-led Union government withdraws the amended legislation. The JMM-led state government has alleged that the changes undermine Jharkhand’s rights over its mineral resources and could affect the state’s revenues.
JMM central committee member and Dumka district spokesperson Abdul Salam Ansari said the amended law was against Jharkhand’s interests and could lead to revenue losses for the state, potentially affecting government welfare and development schemes.
Bokaro district JMM president Ratan Lal Manjhi said the party would continue its campaign against the legislation and could organise demonstrations at Lok Bhavan and in Delhi if required.
Similar protests were reported from Ranchi, Dhanbad, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and other districts. In several places, party workers also submitted memoranda through local officials.
Meanwhile, the Jharkhand BJP launched a statewide awareness campaign on the MMDR Amendment Act on Saturday, which will continue until September 30. State BJP president Aditya Sahu said the party would use press conferences, street-corner meetings, seminars and distribution of copies of the legislation to explain its provisions to the public and counter what he described as misleading claims by the JMM and Congress.
The BJP has argued that the amendment does not take away states’ rights over land and minerals or their existing mineral-related revenues. The Centre has said around 90 per cent of mining-sector taxes and statutory payments accrue to states and that this arrangement will continue under the amended law.
The legislation does, however, restrict state governments from imposing specified taxes, cesses or other levies on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land except under conditions prescribed by the Centre. This provision has become a key point of contention between the Union government and opposition-ruled states, including Jharkhand.
The parallel campaigns by the JMM and BJP mark an intensifying political dispute in Jharkhand over the amended mining framework, with the two sides presenting sharply different assessments of its implications for state powers and mineral revenues.a
with inputs from PTI
