MOVEMENT

• The word Jharkhand was first used in the medieval period for the tribal region of Chotanagpur.

It was

inscribed. in the 13th century on a copper plate. It developed as a clear and separate segment

this period.

• The demand for Jharkhand as a separate state is centuries old.

• J. Barthelemon is known as the father of Jharkhand agitation.

• Jharkhand was a part of Bengal and later Bihar during the British Rule.

• The first inter caste Adivasi organisation - "Chotanagpur Unnati Samaj" was set up in 1915.

• A planned struggle for a separate state commenced in 1928.

• On the basis of a memorandum, "Simon Commission" recommended the creation of a separate

Jharkhand state in 1928, but the British did not give it any consideration.

• The Adivasi Mahasabha was formed in 1938. Jaipal Singh Joined the Adivasi Mahasabha in

1939 and

subsequently became its president.

• When India got its independence in 1947, the leaders of Jharkhand put forward a plea for a

separate

State but received no help from the Central or State Government.

• In 1950, Adivasi leader, Jaipal Singh changed the name of the 'Adivasi Mahasabha' to

Jharkhand

Party.

• Jharkhand Party won 32 seats under the able leadership of Jaipal Singh in the first assembly

elections of undivided Bihar in 1952. Their symbol was "Cock".

• In the 1957 and 1962 assembly elections, Jharkhand Party secured 28 and 20 seats

respectively.

• Jharkhand Party on basis of their political performance presented their demand for a separate

State

in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

• In 1955, the Jharkhand Party organized an effective demonstration under the leadership of

Jaipal

Singh before the State Reorganisation Commission. The Commission came to the area but did

not

recommend a separate State.

• According to the draft placed before the Commission, Jharkhand State would consist of 16

districts, 7

from Bihar, 3 from Bengal, 4 from Orissa and 2 from M.P.

• On 10th February 1961, for the first time, `Sitaram- Jagatrann' presented a proposal in the

Bihar

Legislative Council for the creation of Jharkhand. Lots of discussions took place based on this

proposal but it was finally rejected on 24th March 1961.

• In 1963, Jharkhand Party was merged with the Congress. This was a big blow to the agitation

for a

separate Jharkhand State. The merger took place at the initiative of the then Chief Minister,

Vinodanand Jha.

• In Vinodanand Jha's Government, Jaipal Singh was made the minister for Community

Development

and Village Panchayat.

• In 1967, the 'Akhil Bhartiya Jharkhand Party' was founded.

• In December 1968, 'Bihar State Hul Jharkhand Party' was founded.

• In 1970, Jaipal Singh passed aww ano he problems of Jharkhand remained unresolved.

• In 1973, `Brood Bihari Mahto' and `Shibu Soren' founded `Jharkhand Mukti Moreha' (JMM).

After this,

the area leaders and workers once again became restive.

• In 1978, "Jangal Kato Abhiyan" (program to cut forests was began), which had a marked effect

on the

Central Government.

• On 22nd June 1986, `All Jharkhand Students Union' (AJSU) was founded under the leadership

Surya Singh Besra based on the Assani Students Union (AASU).

• In June 1987, a conference of the Jharkhand Co-ordination Committee was held at Ramgarh in

which

a 25 member adhoc committee was constituted. Dr. Bisheshwar Prasad Kesri was made its

convener.

• In December l857, a memorandum was given to the then President, Giani Zail Singh by the

Jharkhand

Co-ordination Committee to create a separate Jharkhand State, which would include 21

districts

from Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and M.P.

• In 1987, BJP for the first time demanded `Vananchal Pradesh'. They wanted to separate a few

districts only from the State of Bihar to form a separate Jharkhand State.

• On 23rd August 1989. the Central Government constituted a 24-member committee called

'Jharkhand

Vishavak Samiti' under the leadership of B.S. Lalit 16 representatives, 4 government

officials and 4

experts related to the Jharkhand movement were included in this committee.

• On 31st December 1991, "Jharkhand People's Party" was founded as an associate political

party to

AJSU.

• On 7th August 1995, an official notification was issued to form "Jharkhand Area Autonomous

Council"

(JAAC) which was formally constituted on 9th August 1995; 'Shibu Soren' was nominated the

chairman and 'Suraj Mandal' the vice-chairman.

• 18 districts of Bihar were included under JAAC.

• The responsibility of40 departments including agriculture, mining, rural development, health

and SC /

ST was given to the Council.

• No proper elections were ever held for JAAC.

• On 22nd July, 1997, Bihar Assembly passed a resolution for the creation of a separate State.

• In 1998, NDA Government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee prepared the "Bihar

State

Reorganisation Bill" for creation of Vananchal State and sent it to Rabri Devi's Government in

Bihar

for approval. It was mentioned in the bill that 18 districts from Bihar would be separated to form

the

'Vananchal State'.

• On 21st September, 1998 Bihar Assembly voted against the Bill with 181 votes against 107

votes.

• On 25th April, 2000, the minority government of Rabri Devi, under pressure from the Congress,

approved the "Bihar State Reorganisation Bill", 2000.

• On 2nd August, 2000 'Loksabha' passed the Bill and on l lth August, 2000 Rajya Sabha also

passed

the Bill.

• On 25th August, 2000 the President gave his consent by putting his signature on the Bill. Thus

the

road was cleared for formation of Jharkhand.

• Bihar State Reorganisation Bill 2000 is a Document divided into 10 parts and 10 Schedules in

which

there are 91 Articals.

• On 15th November, 2000 Jharkhand was born as the 28th State of the country.