Chief Minister Hemant Soren today reiterated that allegations of amassing land and other assets are levelled against him as he comes from a tribal community. On the other hand, he said, what is the use of amassing tribal land, when one cannot sell, purchase or even get help from banks on such land.
Talking to media persons at the State Secretariat here on Thursday, the CM said, “I come from tribal community, I am tribal youth and allegations of amassing benami properties are levelled on me. And, you must be aware tribal assets are very difficult to be purchased or sold in the State. Banks also do not help in such properties. Then what will one do with such an asset?”
“Will I get finished by coercion, conspiracy of someone? The way Central agencies are being used against us is evident and people are talking about this too,” he said.
On being asked for his reaction on the arrest of AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Soren said, “Not only Sanjay Singh but several others are in the queue. There are talks about me also. Benami Assets, benami assets….it’s so strange. The opposition party (BJP) leaders have been working as Spokespersons of several organisations and using their intellectual faculties to stop people from weaker sections of society from progressing.”
“Anyway, in democracy every citizen gets an opportunity to show his power every five years. This time is coming soon. Time will tell the truth. We will not finish whatever conspiracy one does,” he said.
On the question of caste based census in State, the CM said that they have been ready for it ever since 2021. “We had sent a proposal to the Governor regarding the same and had even asked for quota for the needy people. We are clear on this …the communities in the State will get their share as per their population,” he said.
The Chief Minister had said through a letter that the Constitution has made provision for special facilities and reservation for the development of socially and educationally backward classes.
Due to absence of caste data in the census conducted since independence, people belonging to backward classes are facing difficulties in providing special facilities. In the proposed census in the year 2021, written information was given by the government in the Parliament about not conducting the caste census of the backward and extremely backward classes who have been oppressed, ridiculed, neglected and deprived for ages, which is unfortunate. Backward and extremely backward classes are not able to make the expected progress since ages. In such a situation, if caste census is not conducted now, then the educational, social, political and economic condition of the backward/extreme backward castes will neither be properly assessed, nor will appropriate policies related to their betterment and uplift be determined, nor will their numbers be determined. The budget will be allocated in proportion. It is known that 90 years ago, the caste census was conducted in the year 1931 and on the basis of that, the Mandal Commission recommended providing reservation to the backward classes.
It was written in the letter that in India, people of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes have suffered the brunt of economic and social backwardness for centuries. After independence, different classes have developed at different speeds. Due to which the gap between the rich and the poor has further increased. In India, economic inequality has a strong relationship with caste and generally those who fall in the socially backward category are also economically backward. The need of the hour is to take grassroots initiatives to implement the slogans of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas. The first condition for preparing a development blueprint is to know the ground reality. For this, caste census will prove to be the most effective medium. Only by conducting caste census can it be ensured that participation is given to all sections of the society in proportion to their share. This demand has been considered the need of the hour, therefore, breaking the party walls, everyone is demanding from the Center that the information about political, economic, social and educational level of all castes should be included in the census and made public. Backward and extremely backward people are not getting share and participation in proportion to their population. The reason is that their accurate caste data is not available. In such a situation, there is an absolute need for caste data to remove these disparities.
Through the letter, the Chief Minister explained the many benefits of conducting caste-based census in the policy-making of the country. It was written in the letter that these figures would prove helpful in providing reservation facilities to the backward class people. The data will help the policy makers in better policy making and implementation for the uplift of the backward class people. These data will also highlight the economic, social and educational disparities and then their solution can be found in a democratic manner. There is also a provision in Article 340 of the Constitution to form a commission to obtain information about the actual situation of economically and socially backward classes. Caste census will also ensure compliance with this provision of the Constitution. It will also prove helpful in reducing the errors in including and not including eligible beneficiaries in target based schemes.