Liquor shops will be opened in ST areas with the permission of Gram Sabha: TAC

Ranchi: The Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) on Wednesday, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, had a consensus on abolishing the compulsion of police station area in the CNT Act after taking legal opinion.

In the meeting, there was also a discussion about opening liquor shops in tribal-dominated areas, but the consent of the Gram Sabha will be mandatory in this. Especially where there is more than 50 percent tribal population, the permission of the Gram Sabha will be necessary. There has been a consensus to reconsider the Ichagarh Dam, while there has been no amendment of any kind in the Meso Act 2001.

After the meeting, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that there was a discussion on how to do better work on tribal interests in the state. There was a discussion on how tribal interests and the culture and civilization here can be preserved. On the question of BJP’s TAC members Babulal Marandi and Champai Soren not attending the meeting, Hemant said that whenever they are in the opposition, they will not cooperate with the government.

During the meeting, questions raised regarding the validity of TAC and objections of Raj Bhavan, Intellectual Forum, and MLA Champai Soren were also discussed. In this regard, JMM MLA Stephen Marandi said that the opinion of the Advocate General has been taken and the current TAC has been considered valid. Regarding the rules related to the PESA Act, it was told that first JPR-1 will be amended; only after that will PESA rules be formed.