Ranchi. Uncomfortable conditions are continuously arising in Jharkhand for the Tata group. While the state’s ruling party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has taken an agitational tone against Tata for its demands, some ministers of the state government are continuously making rhetoric against the Tata group. The latest case is of the Tata Cancer Hospital being built in Ranchi, which has been questioned by the State Health Minister Banna Gupta on the land given by the previous government. The minister says that the amount of land given to the Tata Trusts for the hospital is more than its requirement. In such a situation, the unused land should be taken back from Tata.
The minister has also written a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Health Department for its review and further action. Let us inform that the previous government led by Raghuvar Das in Jharkhand had provided 23.5 acres of land for the State of Art Cancer Hospital in Kanke, Ranchi on token money of Re 1 on the request of Tata Trust. Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata himself had come on the occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony of this hospital in November 2018. The construction of the proposed 302-bed hospital building has been almost completed and it is to be inaugurated on January 26. It has been told that at present an 89-bed hospital has been prepared. Later its capacity will be expanded to 302 beds. Now, before the inauguration of the hospital, Health Minister Banna Gupta questioned the land acquired by it, it is feared that this project of the Tata group will be affected.
It is worth mentioning that Minister Banna Gupta is the MLA of Tatanagar Jamshedpur West Zone and for the past few days he has been a frequent attacker against the Tata group, while in July last, when he inspected the under-construction hospital, he described it as a boon for cancer patients. This month the minister’s tone suddenly changed. He held a press conference in Jamshedpur on November 14, accusing Tata of occupying the sports ground and vacant land in Jamshedpur. After this, on 16 November, in front of the statue of Lord Birsa Munda in Jamshedpur, he staged a sit-in against Tata alleging that he was not fulfilling his social obligations. Minister Banna Gupta had said that it was an insult to him not to garland Birsa Munda’s statue on his statue on November 15, by a senior official of the Tata group.
Tata accused of neglecting the interests of Jharkhand
The Tata group is also facing opposition from Jharkhand’s ruling party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jamshedpur and Chaibasa. Eight JMM MLAs and their supporters blocked the gates of various Tata offices throughout the day on November 17 against the shifting of Tata Cummins and Tata Motors headquarters to Pune. By submitting a memorandum to the company, JMM has also demanded the appointment of local people on 75 percent posts of class III and IV in all the plants and offices located in Jharkhand. The party has threatened an indefinite economic blockade against Tata if a positive decision is not taken on the issue. Recently, Jharkhand government ministers Mithilesh Thakur and Champai Soren also gave statements against the Tata group. Both these ministers have accused Tata of neglecting the interests of Jharkhand. Overall, the siege of the ruling party has created uncomfortable conditions for Tatas across Jharkhand.
Here, leaders of Jharkhand’s main opposition party BJP have alleged that JMM’s opposition is part of a particular agenda. Former Chief Minister Raghuvar Das says that Tata’s cancer hospital will work as a sanjeevani for a poor state like Jharkhand, but the attitude of the insensitive Hemant government is disappointing. Now he is in a hurry to eclipse the cancer hospital as well.
