Ranchi, Feb. 18: Jharkhand Pradesh Lok Samiti has demanded immediate announcement of panchayat elections in the state. Hundreds of samiti activists staged a dharna in front of commissioner’s office to press for various demands including decentralisation of power at the grassroots level.

“The formation of Jharkhand had evoked a lot of hope. However, even after two years of its formation, the government has not been able to fulfil the aspirations of the people. The government has ignored the priorities of the people of the state,” said samiti general secretary Sachchidananda.

He said the government had never taken the panchayati raj seriously.

“It kept on postponing the dates of panchayat elections. This shows that the Babulal Marandi government is not willing to hold these elections. Its promise of decentralising the government functioning has proved to be hollow,” he added.

Addressing the activists, another samiti leader said: “The government while displacing people from their land by making new rules is encouraging multinational companies to set up their bases in the state. Small scale industries are on the verge of closure.”

Criticising the government for not taking concrete steps to tackle the drought situation in the state, the samiti leaders said: “Many people have been forced to leave the state due to the drought. The problem of child labour is acquiring alarming proportions here. The government should take action immediately in this regard.” They also demanded that a white paper on food scarcity be released soon.

The leaders demanded that the mid-day meal scheme be launched effectively in the entire state in order to increase the literacy rate.

They also asked the government to implement various food, security and employment schemes in the state.