Ranchi, Oct 08: Leader of the opposition in Jharkhand Assembly Stephen Marandi today said his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha would firmly place its views against the proposed amendments to the Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Bill when the house re-assembles today after a long Puja break. ``The Arjun Munda government has brought the bill under pressure from its alliance partners who want de-reservation of the deputy posts in the three-tier local government bodies in the scheduled areas,`` Stephen told a news agency here.

The opposition had boycotted the first four days of the five-day monsoon session that started on September 5 in protest against the short duration of the house. However, it withdrew the protest after speaker Inder Singh Namdhari announced extension of the session by three more days. Reminding that any proposal for the amendment could be made only within a year of the President`s assent to a bill. Stephen said, in this case, Parliament had passed the Panchayat Raj Bill in 1996.

Claiming that any issue relating to the fifth schedule should be decided only by the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) the JMM leader said the council had in 1999 okayed the Central Panchayat Act. ``But the government has proposed the bill without consulting TAC``. ``The Munda government is working under pressure of certain political parties in the coalition who are not happy with the present Panchayat Raj Act that gives preference to tribals in scheduled areas,`` he alleged.

Bureau Report