`Centre`s policies have aggravated problems of the displaced`

Jharkhand government blamed the Centre`s policies for problems being faced by displaced families and sought remedy to the issue.

Ranchi: Jharkhand government Thursday blamed the Centre`s policies for problems being faced by displaced families and sought remedy to the issue. Replying to a debate, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hemlal Murmu said resettlement and rehabilitation policy was not made following setting up of big industries which had led to large scale displacement soon after Independence. As per 1931 census, he said, tribals formed 50 per cent of the population in this region, which had reduced to 26.3 per cent in 2001. "Only tribals in the state have been cheated due to central policies... Similarly the Coal Bearing Act giving the Centre to acquire land (coal areas) directly, but the Act has no provision for resettlement," Murmu said. Taking on Babulal Marandi`s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric), Murmu claimed Marandi has never raised a single question in Lok Sabha for benefiting Jharkhand on the matter. Apparently referring to Monday`s violence during JVM`s agitation on the displacement issue, Murmu accused Marandi`s party of instigating innocent people and asked the opposition party not to politicise any issue for "short term gain." On the issue of coal blocs allotment and the controversy surrounding Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Murmu said, "Giving coal mines to own kin would not make a state developed." PTI