Formation As A Separate State (Jharkhand GK In English)

People of Jharkhand involved in a vigorous movement since the beginning of the 19th century and their demand for a separate state fulfilled on 15th November, 2000. The various groups efforts in this direction were as follows

Dacca Students Union

▸ It was established in 1910 by J Bartholomew and some Anglican missionaries to deal with the problems faced by poor tribal students. It was a religious society, a cultural organisation, a discussion forum and student's union.
▸ In 1912, a meeting of all Anglican and Lutheran students was called to raise funds in which some degree of consensus was arrived about the aims of the organisation.
▸ This union was successful in mobilising tribal students to demand better education facilities, economic avenues, job opportunities, etc.
▸ This union was re-organised lated and named the Chhota Nagpur Improvement Society.

The Chhota Nagpur Unnati Samaj

▸ The Chhota Nagpur Improvement Society was renamed the Chhota Nagpur Unnati Samaj in 1928.
▸ The founders of this society were Joel Lakra, Anand Masih Topno, Theble Oraon, Paul Dayal, Alfons Kujur and Bandi Oraon.
▸ This was the first society that played an important role in spreading political awareness against the alien rule among the people.
▸ They reminded the tribes about their glorious past and stressed the need to restore the past.
▸ In 1928, a member of this society met the Simon Commission and presented the first demand for the creation of a separate province in the Jharkhand area.
▸ The Christian students organisation 'Chhota Nagpur Improvement Society' was later renamed as Chhota Nagpur Unnati Society in 1928.
The main objectives of this society were as follows: — Seeking for economic, political and social advancement of the tribals in Chhota Nagpur and reservation in government service and legislatures, removal of backwardness in the area and employment for educated tribals.
— To disseminate the message among people, the Chhota Nagpur Unnati Samaj published a magazine named Adivasi in English, Mundari, Hindi and Kurukh languages.

Kisan Sabha

▸ It was formed in 1931 by Theble Oraon and Paul Dayal. This Sabha differed from Chhota Nagpur Unnati Samaj on the basis of the improvement of the problems faced by the tribal population.
▸ It believed in radical action, mobilisation of peasantry to force the government to act.

Chhota Nagpur Catholic Sabha

▸ It was created by Baniface Lakra and Ignes Beck with the support of the archbishop of Chhota Nagpur.
▸ It aimed at the promotion of socio-religious and economic advance. It also took active interest in politics.
▸ This Sabha contested 1937 elections and both Ignes Beck and Baniface Lakra were elected. Ignes Beck aspired to create a pan-tribal organisation in Jharkhand to safeguard the interests of the tribes.
▸ The grant of political economy and creation of the Province of Odisha under the Government of India Act, 1935 strengthened the resolve to struggle for a separate province of Jharkhand.

Adivasi Mahasabha

▸ It was formed in 1938 which aspired to create a pan-tribal solidarity to resolve tribal problems. This Mahasabha aimed to improve socio-economic and political conditions of tribal people.
▸ In 1939, Jaipal Singh was the President of Adivasi Mahasabha. He demanded for a separate state including parts of Chhota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana.
▸ In 1940, at Ramgarh Session of Congress, he discussed with Subhash Chandra Bose for need to form separate state Jharkhand.

The Jharkhand Party (JKP)

▸ The Jharkhand Parti (JKP) was founded by Justin Richard in 1949. Later Jaipal Singh Munda joined and merged his Adivasi Mahashava in it.
▸ It became a full fledged political party in 1950, Jaipal Singh was elected president of JKP. Jaipal Singh suggested for the creation of a Province in Jharkhand and thought that it was the only solution to uplift the life style of tribal people.
▸ The famous slogan at that time was Jharkhand abua, daku diku senoa that means Jharkhand is our and all robbers (daku) and aliens (diku) will have to leave.
▸ JHP participated in the first election in the post-independence era. The Jharkhand Party's candidates won 32 Assembly seats and established this party as the dominant political element in the region. Now, the leader of JHP demanding a separate Jharkhand state of 16 districts belonging to 7 districts from Bihar, 3 from Bengal, 4 from Odisha and 2 from Madhya Pradesh.
▸ In 1955, a memorandum was submitted to the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) which stressed on socio-political, economic and cultural grounds for demanding the creation of a new state.
▸ They emphasised that the tribes were separate from the non-tribal people by linguistically, ethnically and culturally, thus, geographical adjacency and administrative separateness were required. They failed to convince the SRC and were rejected on the ground that the multiplicity of tribal language is not the criterion of the creation of a new state in the Jharkhand region.
▸ In the meantime, there were other national parties which became active in the region such as the Indian National Congress (INC), the Communist Party of India (CPI), Swatantra Party and Jan Sangh. In 1963, the JHP became merged into the Congress.

Congress-JHP Merger

▸ On 20th June, 1963 the JHP was merged with Congress. Former Chief Minister of Bihar, Binodananda Jha played a key role in Congress-JHP merger.
▸ The advantage of the merger was that the people of Jharkhand got their first exposure to actual governmental office and day-to-day administration.
▸ The Christian tribal section opposed the merger as a threat to their influence.
▸ Factionalism became very common after the JHP – INC merger. Many groups like Sahdeo group, Paul Dayal group, Lakra group emerged. Further, three separate factions emerged between 1963 and 1968. These were Birsa Sewa Dal, Krantikari Morcha and Chhota Nagpur Parishad, of them Birsa Sewa Dal was the most famous pressure-group.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)

▸ The failure of JHP and other political parties of Jharkhand led to another movement. Vinod Bihari Mahato emerged as an important leader in Dhanbad and Hazaribagh area and established Shivaji Samaj. He pointed out the backwardness of the region.
▸ An alliance was made with the Santhal population of the area. Then Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Party (JMM) was organised in 1973 under the dual leadership of Vinod Bihari Mahto and Shibu Soren.
▸ Vinod Bihari Mahto became the President and Shibu Soren elected as the Secretary General of the JMM.
The main aims of thisMorcha were as follows: — Demand for a separate state.
— Freedom from the exploitative policies of the alien powers.
— Reservation in employment for tribal people or native people of the region.

Birsa Sewa Dal

Birsa Seva Dal (BSD) was founded by Lalit Kuzur in 1967.Moses Guria was the general secretary of BSD. It was formed under the guidance of Jaipal Singh by a group of men with the aim of acting as an independent tribal organisation which worked towards the betterment of tribal society. The activities of Birsa Sewa Dal can be divided into two phases: First Phase (1967-69) In this phase, violent means were advocated to secure the rights and better life prospects for tribal people.During this phase, Birsa Day was celebrated, large processions were taken out as methods of mobilising the tribal masses.
Second Phase (1970) It began when its extrimist stance failed to generate any substantial following in the rural areas of the region and the influence of the leftist parties decreased.

Jharkhand Coordination Committee

▸ It was created in 1987 by sixty-two cultural and political organisations such as the JMM (Soren), the JMM (Marandi) and some smaller organisations.
▸ It aimed at realising the dream of a separate Province of Jharkhand.

All Jharkhand States Union (AJSU)

▸ It was founded on 22nd June, 1986 by Nirmal Mahato. It organised general strikes and a campaign to boycott Lok Sabha elections in 1989.
▸ The Union Home Ministry constituted a Committee on Jharkhand Matters (CoJM) in 1990.
▸ AJSU is mostly activated in Santhal Pargana region.

Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council

▸ It came into existence in August 1995 by Bihar Government, then Laloo Prasad Yadav was the chief minister. The election to JAAC was never held and the powers allocated to it were not transferred.
▸ The JAAC and its activities could not satisfy the people.

Formation and Reorganisation of Jharkhand (Jharkhand GK in English)

▸ The JMM and other parties of Jharkhand had a vision of a separate Jharkhand state comprising 25 districts from four states.
▸ In 1991, BJP proposed the creation of a state called Vananchal from the 16 districts of South Bihar.
▸ The attitude of Congress towards the creation of autonomy or statehood was over cautious and restrictive in the INC manifesto for 1996 general elections.
▸ On 22nd July, 1997, Bihar Legislature passed the resolution of Jharkhand as a separate state and sent it to the Central Government.
▸ In 1998, the BJP proposed the creation of a state called Vananchal from the 16 districts of South Bihar only. But on 21st September, 1998, Bihar Legislature rejected the Bihar State Reorganisation Bill, 1998. Rabri Devi was the Chief Minister of Bihar state that time.
▸ Later in the 1999, in the Lok Sabha elections the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came into power at the centre, as the BJP got secured 11 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats of Jharkhand. One seat went to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and two seats went to the Indian National Congress (INC).
▸ Consequently, the promise of a separate state was fulfilled by the NDA by passing the Bihar State Reorganisation Bill, 2000 from Lok Sabha on 2nd August, 2000 and from Rajya Sabha on 11th August, 2000.
▸ On 25th August, 2000 the then President KR Narayan had signed on the State Reorganisation Bill, 2000. Jharkhand emerged as the 28th state of India on 15th November, 2000.
▸ The first Chief Minister of Jharkhand was Babu Lal Marandi and Prabhat Kumar was appointed the first Governor of Jharkhand.
▸ On January 2002, Jharkhand Public Service Commission established in the state and Phatik Chandra Hembram became the first Chairman of the JPSC.

Important Organisations/Committees of Jharkhand Movement

Organisation/Committee

Year

Founder

Christian Students Organisation

1912

J Bartholomew

Chhota Nagpur Unnati Samaj

1915

Joel Lakra

Kisan Sabha

1931

Theble Oraon

Chhota Nagpur Catholic Sabha

1933

Baniface Lakra

Chhota Nagpur Adivasi Mahasabha

Theodore Surin

The Jharkhand Party (merged in Congress in 1963)

Justin Richard/Jaipal Singh

Birsa Sewa Dal

1967

Lalit Kujuro

All India Jharkhand Party

Bagun Sumbrai/David Munzai

All India Tribal Development Council

Kartik Oraon

Hul Jharkhand Party

Justin Richard

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

1973

Vinod Bihari Mahto, Shibu Soren, AK Ray

Jharkhand Coordination Committee

1987

Members of 53 Organisation.

All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU)

Nirmal Manto

Committee on Jharkhand Matters

Government of India

Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC)

Bihar Government