RANCHI, Dec 16 : The Jharkhand government will reintroduce the domicile Bill during the ongoing assembly session, a JMM spokesperson said on Saturday.
JMM general secretary and spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya, in a press conference, said the state government will fulfill its commitment and table the domicile Bill in the ongoing session again.
The ‘Jharkhand definition of local persons and for extending the consequential, social, cultural and other benefits to such local persons Bill, 2022’, better known as the domicile Bill, was passed by the Hemant Soren government last year by voice note and sent to the governor for approval.
According to the Bill, only people whose ancestors were enlisted in the 1932 Khatiyan (land records), will be deemed as locals of Jharkhand and they will be considered for appointments to class 3 and 4 posts of the state government.
Governor CP Radhakrishnan returned the Bill regarding the use of 1932 land records to determine domicile status for reconsideration as per the “legal and constitutional opinion of Ld. Attorney general of the country”.
Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto on Friday read out in the House the message from the Raj Bhavan secretariat, in which it was stated that “Section-6 (a) of the Bill may be violative of Article-14 and Article-16 (2) of the Constitution and thereby invalid”.
Bhattacharya raised questions on the Governor House allegedly holding the Bill for a year.
“The Bill was passed last year. But, it was returned after two months without any suggestion. Then, we sought the governor’s suggestion on it. Later, the Bill was returned with some suggestions, which were read out by the Speaker,” he said.
He said that there is a policy in many states where class 3 and 4 grade jobs are reserved for local people.
While Bhattacharya refused to divulge any details on whether any changes will be made to the Bill while being reintroduced, sources in the assembly said the Bill may be reintroduced in its original form.
The five-day winter session of the assembly began on Friday. (PTI)