NAGPUR, July 25: The Government's announcement to carve out Vananchal state from Bihar (along with Uttaranchal and Chhattisgarh) is the culmination of decades long struggle waged by the tribals of South Bihar to create the Jharkhand state.Ironically the creation of the new Vananchal State may still not fulfil the aspirations of the people who had dreamt of a greater Jharkhand comprising forest tracts from the four states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Would the creation of a Vananchal state bring about any substantial change in the lives of the inhabitants of the hilly and forest region?In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, former MP, senior leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Vice Chairman of the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) Suraj Mandal discusses the implications of the proposed Vananchal state. Mandal was in the city to invite businessmen from Vidarbha to set up industries in the Vananchal region.For more than 70 years the people from the hillyforest southern region of Bihar had been aspiring to create the Jharkhand state comprising tribal areas from four states. The Centre's announcement of the creation of Vananchal state from just one state - the southern part of Bihar, should naturally have been opposed by the leaders who had spearheaded the Jharkhand movement. Why then this mute acceptance then by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leaders?According to Suraj Mandal, the proposed creation of Vananchal state does not mean the party has thrown in the towel or that the demand for the creation of a greater Jharkhand state has been withdrawn. Once Vananchal is created the next step would be to go back to the original demand for Jharkhand state. For the time being the JMM does not want to create hurdles in the path of the Centre's move to create Vananchal, he says.By agreeing to the Centre's proposal for creation of Vananchal state from Bihar, haven't the JMM leaders betrayed the Jharkhand movement and its leaders from three other states? Haven'tthey distanced themselves from the old demand of a tribal homeland (Greater Jharkhand) comprising 26 districts from four States? Also how could they accept the proposed name, `Vananchal' when the movement itself came to be known as the `Jharkhand movement'?``It was the JMM which spearheaded the movement all these years. If there were any other people as sincerely involved with the cause they have yet to identify themselves. As such there is no question of any betrayal at all. The JMM leaders are firm and committed on renaming Vananchal as Jharkhand at a later stage,'' says Mandal.The creation of the Vananchal state would bring about a sea change in the lives of the people. The new state would comprise 18 districts covering an area of around 74000 sq kms. It has 40 per cent of India's total mineral resources, including coal, bauxite, mica, copper, uranium etc., besides a rich flora and fauna.Does Mandal agree with the charge that the Bihar government always neglected the southern region of the state?Since the JMM has been supporting the RJD goverment of Laloo Prasad Yadav, could it do anything to improve the status of the people in the south? The discrimination charge is absolutely true, asserts Mandal. Out of the annual collection of Rs 1,700 crore sales tax from Bihar, as much as Rs 1,200 comes from the southern region alone. Unfortunately on an average only 15 per cent of the revenue generated from the region used to be reinvested there. With the creation of the new state the Vananchalis would have full control over its revenue.Already the impact of the creation of the Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council can be seen with the fast development of the southern regions of Bihar. Roads have improved, power supply is better and the crime graph has also gone down, he claims.
