A proposal to this effect will be sent to the Centre to include it in the Ninth Schedule of Constitution.
Amid political uncertainty in Jharkhand, the Hemant Soren-led UPA government on Wednesday gave its nod to a proposal to use the 1932 land records to determine those who are local inhabitants.
The decision was taken in the backdrop of tribals' demand that the last land survey conducted by the British government in 1932 be used as the basis for defining locals.
"The cabinet approved the proposal to implement Khatian of 1932 in the state. The 'Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons and for Extending the Consequential Social, Cultural and Other Benefits to such Local Persons Bill, 2022 has been cleared by the council of ministers," Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel told reporters after the meeting.
People whose ancestors were living in the state before 1932 and whose names were included in that year's land records will be considered local residents of Jharkhand.
A proposal to this effect will be sent to the Centre to include it in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, Ms Dadel said.
In the case of landless persons or people whose names were not recorded in the 1932 land survey, Gram Sabha will take a call on it, the official said.
The domicile policy has remained controversial ever since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000. The previous BJP government in the state had, in 2016, declared 1985 as the cut-off year for defining locals.
But after the JMM-led alliance came to the power in the state in 2019, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren announced that the 1932 land records should be made the basis to formulate the domicile policy.
The government's decision came amid a political crisis in the state over the possibility of Mr Soren's disqualification as an MLA in connection with an office-of-profit case.
Governor Ramesh Bais, who returned to Ranchi on September 8 after a week-long stay in Delhi, has been maintaining silence over the Election Commission of India's recommendation on Soren.
Earlier this month, Mr Bais had assured ruling UPA MLAs of clearing the air over the EC's opinion on a petition seeking the CM's disqualification from the assembly in the office-of-profit case. Despite the prevailing crisis, the state cabinet had recently approved the standard operating procedure (SOP) for implementing the old pension scheme, which was discontinued on April 1, 2004, and replaced with the National Pension System (NPS).
The government also restored compensatory leaves for the police force.
In fact, the Hemant Soren government had on September 5 won the confidence vote in the assembly by a comfortable margin, which helped the politically-savvy tribal leader consolidate his hold over the state.
As many as 48 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion in the 81-member assembly - 29 of the JMM, 15 of the Congress, one each of RJD, NCP and CPIML(L) and an Independent - even as the opposition BJP-led NDA walked out of the House in that day.
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