Jharkhand Assembly adjourned twice on ruckus over new employment policy

The Jharkhand Assembly was on Saturday adjourned twice after the BJP-led opposition members created a ruckus on the issue of the new employment policy.

The opposition legislators and a ruling party MLA alleged that the draft of a new employment policy was passed in the state cabinet without taking the House into confidence.

They demanded that government should clarify it.

A new employment policy had earlier been unanimously passed in the House but was scrapped by the High Court of Jharkhand last year.

The treasury bench tried to pacify the opposition MLAs assuring them that it would give a reply on the issue on March 13 but BJP MLAs came to the well of the House in protest.

The House was first adjourned till noon and then till 2 pm. After functioning of the House for about 40 minutes amid uproar in the second half, it was adjourned till March 13.

At the beginning of the day's proceedings, senior JMM leader Lobin Hembrom said that there is confusion in the state after the cabinet reportedly approved a new recruitment policy.

If the government passed any employment policy in the cabinet, it should be announced in the Assembly. If not, it should be considered as contempt of the House, he said.

The Jharkhand Cabinet on Thursday approved amendments to various rules related to the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) examinations, including doing away with a clause that disallowed candidates, with academic certificates from institutions outside the state, to appear in the test.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to the amendments, which among other changes, added Hindi, English and Sanskrit to the list of languages for the JSSC examination, taking the total number of languages to 15.

Echoing Hembrom, BJP MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda said, A 1932 Khatiyan-based new employment policy had been passed unanimously in the House last year. Now, we came to know from the media that the government intends to implement a pre-2016 employment policy after the new policy was scrapped by the High Court. I want to know what is there in the pre-2016 policy which the government intends to implement.

Parliamentary Affairs minister Alamgir Alam said, The government will reply to the issue on March 13. Let the Question Hour proceed.

However, legislators belonging to the BJP and the AJSU Party l continued to create a ruckus and came to the well, following which Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto adjourned the House till noon.

The House resumed around noon amid uproar by the opposition, including AJSU Party legislators, who were seeking a reply from the government on the policy.

AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto said, Employment policy has been a burning issue for the past two-three years in the state. The government had brought the policy as per its commitment which was passed unanimously in the House. But, again a new policy has been passed in the cabinet but the House has not been taken into confidence. The government must answer this.

Amid slogans raised by the opposition MLAs against the government, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm.

The House resumed after 2 pm for a debate on the Budget proposals for 2023-24 amid an uproar by the opposition.

The Speaker adjourned the House till March 13 after the House functioned for about 40 minutes in the second half of the proceedings.

The High Court of Jharkhand in December last scrapped the employment policy brought in by the JMM-led government in 2021, which amended the JSSC examination rules, making the passing of class 10 and 12 from a school in Jharkhand mandatory for job aspirants belonging to the general category to apply for grade 3 and 4 jobs.