Jharkhand Chief Minister, Hemant Soren has said the state government has no plans to ban the sale and consumption of liquor.Congress legislator Dipika Pandey Singh had argued that banning the sale of liquor would help in checking atrocities against women in the state, to which the chief minister said consumption of liquor is not the sole reason behind the atrocities. The state government, he said, had taken up several welfare schemes for women including the ‘Phulo Jhano’ scheme to provide alternative means of livelihood to women involved in the sale of country liquor and so far 25,000 women have been benefitted from the scheme.
Jharkhand state budget for the financial year 2022-23 will be presented by the state government on 3 March 2022. State Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon will present the budget in the assembly. Speculations are rife that this time the Jharkhand budget will be more focused on the poor and small farmers. Meanwhile, there is no proposal before the Jharkhand government to revive the old pension scheme scrapped by the central government and states with effect from January 1, 2004, chief minister Hemant Soren told the state assembly on Monday. Soren said the government will take a call on reviving the old pension scheme once a proposal reaches the government. “The member has raised the issue in light of the announcement made by the Rajasthan government. They have also now just made the announcement. However, no such proposal is under consideration in our government as yet,” Soren told the assembly on a question by Congress legislator Pradeep Yadav.