The crushing defeat of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jharkhand Assembly election means that Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Shoren is set to become the new chief minister with support from coalition partners Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal. But Hemant Soren will have to face some serious challenges after taking oath as the chief minister of Jharkhand. Here are the five challenges which the JMM leader will have to face after taking charge as the CM of Jharkhand:
Debt of over Rs 85,000 crore on state’s exchequer
Jharkhand government is currently under the debt of over Rs 85,000 crore. It is interesting to note that when Raghubar Das took charge as CM of the state in 2014 the total debt on state exchequer was Rs 37,000 crore but the debt kept on increasing during Das’ regime. According to available data, the loans under CM Das-led government was more than the loans borrowed by all chief ministers of Jharkhand from 2000 till 2014. The first challenge for Hemant Soren will be to reduce the burden on state’s exchequer. Besides this, the farmer of Jharkhand have debt of over Rs 6,000 crore and the new chief minister will have to take steps aimed at helping the farmers come out of the burden of debt.
Remove the tag of ‘poor’ state
Jharkhand has been called a ‘poor’ state since it bifurcation from Bihar in 2000. It is to be noted that around 36.96 percent population of Jharkhand is still living Below Poverty Line (BPL). Hemant Shoren will have to come up with new ideas in order to reduce the number of BPL population and help Jharkhand shed the tag of a ‘poor’ state.
Food shortag
Jharkhand has always remained in news for deaths due to starvation. In 2017, an 11-year-old girl named Santoshi had died in Jharkhand’s Simdega due to scarcity of food. Santoshi’s death had sparked huge uproar across India. According to official data, Jharkhand needs around 50 lakh metric tonne of foodgrains annually but the state manages to produce around 40 lakh metric tonne of foodgrains per year. Hemant Soren will have to trump the challenge of filling the gap of 10 lakh metric tonne of foodgrains in order to prevent starvation death in the state.
Naxalism and security
Though the security forces have succeeded in wiping out naxalism from majority of the districts in Jharkhand but 13 districts of the state are still affected by naxalism. These districts are Khunti, Latehar, Ranchi, Gumla, Giridih, Palamau, Gardhwa, Simdega, Dumka, Lohardagga, Bokaro and Chatra. It will be a challenge for incoming CM Hemant Shoren to make these districts free from naxalism.
Rising unemployment
One of the major challenges for Hemant Shoren will be to give employment to youths in Jharkhand. According to data released by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Jharkhand is one among those 11 states, where unemployment is a major issue. The report showed that Jharkhand is ranked five when it comes to unemployment. The NSSO data showed that in 2011-12, the rate of unemployment in Jharkhand was 2.5%, which jumped to 7.7% in 2017-18.