NEW DELHI (PTI): Government has appealed to leaders of the mineral-rich Jharkhand region in Bihar to withdraw their proposed economic blockade September 1 and is hopeful of taking a final decision on their demand for a separate statehood within the next fortnight.
Federal home (Interior) minister, S.B.Chavan, held a final round of discussions with Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and leaders of the Sibu Soren faction of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a regional party, and the ruling Congress-I here August 31. Official sources said the minister would submit their proposals on the Jharkhand issue to the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) soon.
Coming out of the talks, JMM (Soren) vice-president, Suraj Mandal, said they would review the situation on Tuesday and take a decision on the postponement of the economic blockade after hearing the governments stand on the issue. “We will wait for the official version of our talks with Chavan,” he said.
Yadav later told reporters that the question of granting statehood to the Jharkhand region or giving it a union territory status was entirely a matter to be decided by the federal government and the state government did not come in the picture.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 11, 1992
