During the monsoon session of Jharkhand Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had announced to give free sand to non-tax payers inside the House. Today, on the last day of the session, suspended BJP MLAs demonstrated strongly outside the House. BJP MLAs protested against the government’s sand policy by selling sand outside the House at rates ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1000 per kg.
BJP MLAs Shashibhushan Mehta and Neera Yadav had set up a sand stall outside the assembly. Where other BJP MLAs were seen shopping. There was a competition between MLA Neera Yadav and MLA Shashibhushan Mehta over selling sand. Neera Yadav said that their sand is good sand of Swarnarakha river. Despite this she is selling it at ₹100 per kg. On the other hand, BJP MLA Shashibhushan Mehta said that he is bringing sand from Koel river and selling it here. Since many police stations have to pay money while bringing sand on the way, their sand is a bit expensive.
Bhanu Pratap Shahi bought sand from Shashibhushan Mehta for Rs 1000 per kg and said that no poor or non-tax payer in the state is getting free sand. The prices of sand are skyrocketing due to black marketing of sand, while on the other hand, the government is making populist announcements just to deceive the people of the state in view of the elections. It is noteworthy that in the previous cabinet of Hemant Soren government, there was a proposal to give free sand to the poor and non-tax paying public of the state.
On one side, suspended BJP MLAs kept selling sand outside the Jharkhand Assembly, while on the other side, government ministers kept passing through the same route. Overall, the ruling party and the opposition were seen taking a dig at each other. Meanwhile, Minister Hafizul Hasan, who was passing by, said that first the Central Government should return the dues of Rs 1 lakh 36 thousand to the State Government. He said that there is no shortage of sand in the state.
News – Kusum Kumari.
