Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Friday cleared the air over his much-awaited Cabinet expansion plan and said that the full-fledged Council of Ministers will be in place by February 20. Das, in an interview with The Pioneer, also allayed the apprehension of the alliance partner, the AJSU, saying they need not worry with the induction of six JVM MlAs. "It is still BJP-AJSU Government in the State. We have not made any fresh alliance," he maintained, adding that every MlA in the Government will get his/her due respect.
The Chief Minister said the six JVM MlAs have not joined the BJP with any condition. "They all are youths and have passion to undertake development," he added. Das said that everybody is a career-oriented but their career was doomed in the JVM. "They got upset when their supremo Babulal Marandi was negotiating with BJP chief Amit Shah for his own career. So, they chose to join the BJP where they can build up their own career along with the State's career," he pointed out.
The Chief Minister said that he will maintain regional and social balance while expanding his cabinet.
On IAS reshuffle
Das said that he has posted young IAS officers in the districts. They being youth have passion and enthusiasm to bring change in the society.
On fighting corruption
He said that the Vigilance Bureau will be equipped with adequate number of competent officers to investigate the cases. The Chief Minister said he will ask the Chief Secretary to review all the pending cases and take measures to take them to their final conclusion.
New Ranchi
The Chief Minister said that the Government is on its job to locate new land for developing New Ranchi township. "It will not be located in HEC. We are preparing the blueprint for the new township keeping in view the requirement of next 50 years," he added.
On appointments
Das said that the JPSC will take time to recruit the officers in various categories. "So, I have issued directive to appoint the retired personnel on contract so that the works are not hampered. We already have appointed 7,000 teachers in primary schools and 800 Urdu teachers. We will have 34,000 teachers in high schools in next six months. Besides, the police forces will get 10,000 constables by March," he pointed out. He admitted that there are shortage of police officials to strengthen urban policing, but those who are there are not dedicated to their duty. "That is the reason we have planned to hold training session with IAS/IPS officials and MlAs after the Budget Session, where they can exchange ideas and motivate others. We want karmyogis, not karmcharis," he added.
Power decentralisation
The Chief Minister said that he was going to decentralise financial powers. "A Minister will be empowered to sanction schemes above Rs10 crore, while a secretary could sanction schemes beyond Rs5 crore. The Cabinet will take up schemes over Rs20 crore only. Every Minister is supposed to do work setting a timeframe. My job will be to monitor them," he added.
"Moreover, we are going to implement the e-governance system effectively to ensure transparency and make the system almost corruption free," he added.
Clean Jharkhand
The Chief Minister said that every MlA will spend Rs50 lakh from the MlA area development fund to build toilets in his/her constituency. "Moreover, I have asked the drinking water and sanitation department to implement the toilet construction scheme in an intensive way," he pointed out.
CSR Trust
The Chief Minister said that a Trust for using the funds under corporate social responsibility (CSR) will be created with the industrial houses as members. "The Government's job will be only to select the areas in which the development work has to be executed. It will be entirely the job of industrial houses to select the agency, spend funds and implement the work," he signed off.