Ranchi, March 16 Jharkhand Minister Deepak Birua defended the state government's demands for grants in the Assembly on Monday, saying that recruitment and administrative reforms have been accelerated under the Hemant Soren-led government.
Responding to criticism from Opposition BJP lawmakers about slow recruitment, Birua said, "Between 2020 and 2025, over 34,000 appointments were made through the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), while more than 3,000 recruitments were conducted through the public service commission. This had never happened since the creation of the state."
Answering a query from JLKM Party MLA Jairam Mahato on implementing a domicile system based on 1932 land records (Khatiyan), the revenue, land reforms and transport minister said the government is committed to a domicile policy.
"The state government has requested the Centre to include the ‘Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons Bill, 2022’, which was passed by the Legislative Assembly, in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution,” he informed.
He said provisions have been made to increase the reservation limit for services and posts within the state to 77 per cent.
"Under this framework, reservations have been allocated as follows: 28 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, 12 per cent for Scheduled Castes, 15 per cent for Extremely Backward Classes (EBC)), 12 per cent for Backward Classes (BC), and 10 per cent for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)," Birua added.
He also claimed that the transgender community has been included in the OBC list.
"Additionally, a provision for 5 per cent horizontal reservation has been made for women across all categories," he said.
To enhance transparency in land management, the minister said the government is implementing new policies and digital systems.
"The ‘Suo Motu’ system, where land mutation is automatically initiated upon registration of a valid sale deed, and the ‘Parishodhan’ portal have been introduced to streamline the Dakhil-Kharij process," Birua said.
He also said that a textbook on the Kaithi script has been published to facilitate interpretation of old land records.
The demand grants were later passed by voice vote in the assembly.