No space for hate, separatism in India's culture: Jharkhand CM Soren

Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday said honest efforts were on to build a strong Jharkhand to fulfill the aspirations of the people for which a separate state was created.

Hoisting the national flag at Ranchi's Morabadi Ground, Soren said there is no space for hatred and separatism in India's culture and its foundation lies in encompassing all.

"Our government is constantly striving to build a strong state on the foundation of development and democracy. We are making strong and honest attempts to fulfill the aspirations for which a separate state was created," he said.

Soren said that though the tribals and downtrodden were empowered socially, financially and economically during the last 75 years, the goal of establishing an egalitarian society could not be achieved.

"We cannot achieve this goal unless we are successful in preventing exploitation of a person by another person," he said, remembering the ideals of Bhagat Singh.

In view of the scanty rains during the kharif season, the state has sought a special package from the Centre, and an amount of Rs 100 crore is being arranged under the crop relief scheme, the chief minister said.

In the 2021-22 kharif season, the state achieved a record production of 74.16 lakh tonnes of foodgrains, he said.

In order to provide financial assistance to the farmers, Rs 1,583 crore has been sanctioned, he added.

"We have set a target of generating 4,000 mw of electricity from solar power by 2027. Our government has taken the decision to provide green cover to the urban area of ??the state, work is being done on a plan to provide five units of electricity free of cost on planting a tree," he said.

Jharkhand's performance on the innovation index has improved and the state has moved up several places, including on cleanliness and health of women and children parameters, Soren said.

"While greenery has gone down in many states, our state has registered an increase of 110 square kilometers in the forest area between 2019 and 2021, performing better in the field of forest conservation. Roads, rail routes, airways and waterways have expanded in the state. There has been an up-gradation in the level of education and health," he said.

Under the new employment law, every employer has to employ 75 per cent local candidates in posts with a monthly salary of up to Rs 40,000, he said.

"I have given clear instructions to all the departments that action should be taken to fill up the vacant posts under the state government expeditiously... 37,000 posts of teacher and laboratory assistant, etc, are vacant in schools. By running a special drive for the appointment in these posts, work has been started to complete the recruitment process in the next six months," Soren said.

The chief minister said 1,570 km of four-lane highways will be constructed at an investment of about Rs 30,000 crores in the state.