Chief Minister Hemant Soren alleged that the Centre is giving step-motherly treatment to Jharkhand claiming that Coal India is not paying the huge money it owes while funds are being auto-debited from the RBI account for the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). At a meeting with NITI Aayog officials at Ranchi, the chief minister also stressed the need for separate tribal-centric policies for the betterment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe people and setting up mineral-based industries in the state.
“At the meeting with NITI Aayog, issues related to step-motherly treatment with Jharkhand (by the Centre) were raised. Discussions were held to resolve issues pertaining to Damodar Valley Corporation, GST, dues of coal companies, malnutrition, irrigation, water supply and roads. The beginning is good, hope the conclusion will be better,” Soren said.
As many as 22 issues including railway revenue, water resources, minerals, rural development, civil aviation, tribal affairs, road transport and national highways were discussed at the meeting.
On the GST dues, the chief minister urged the Centre to make a payment of ₹1,886.77 crore, the compensation due for financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22.
Soren requested NITI Aayog to ensure that there are no further deductions of funds by the Centre as Jharkhand is struggling with limited resources and many central public sector enterprises owe a huge amount of money to the state.
The CM objected to auto-deduction of ₹2,845.50 crore from the consolidated account of the state government being maintained by the Reserve Bank of India by the Ministry of Power through a tripartite agreement and transferring it to the DVC in lieu of electricity charges.
“The tripartite agreement was invoked without taking consent of the (present) state government. This was invoked during Covid time when resources of the state were under stress,” the CM said.
The state cabinet in January 2021 decided to exit from the tripartite agreement executed among the Union Ministry of Power, Government of Jharkhand and the RBI, saying the Centre was diverting funds meant for welfare of poor tribals.
The then BJP government of Jharkhand in 2017 had made a deal with the Centre and had entered into the tripartite agreement. The pact was an arrangement of payment mechanism of outstanding power bills to the DVC and other PSUs supplying power to the state. It had a clause of auto-debit if the state failed to pay its bill against the purchase.
The state government also told NITI Aayog that the state is not in a position to pay dues to the DVC in lieu of power as central government departments and undertakings owed a huge sum of ₹1,386.76 crore to the state towards consumption of electricity.
In addition, coal companies owed a huge sum to the Jharkhand government in the form of cost of government land and royalty for washed coal, it said.
Last week Soren had said he can stop functioning of Coal India Limited (CIL), which owes ₹1.5 lakh crore to the Jharkhand government, in the state.
NITI Aayog member VK Paul, who led the delegation, the think tank is working as a link in the direction of creating better relations and coordination between the Centre and the states.
