Ranchi Diary

Pressing stories from Jharkhand, brought forth by correspondent Mukesh Ranjan.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

Secretariat silent amid political skepticism
Amid the growing political uncertainty over the Jharkhand CM’s affairs in turmoil, developmental programmes have been hit as officials in the state secretariat are reluctant to clear files accumulated since the last 15 days. According to a secretariat staffer, there is an unprecedented silence as officials are not reporting to office regularly and those do are not remaining in office for long. Files have started to piling up on tables of departmental secretaries as trouble mounts on Chief Minister Hemant Soren following accusation of him using official powers to obtain a mining lease in his favour, despite the fact that he has been holding the mining portfolio in the state cabinet.

Survey hints at respiratory effects of air pollution
A survey on outdoor workers conducted between December 2021 and March 2022 in two cities of Jharkhand shows alarming impact of ambient air pollution on respiratory systems. Done by SwitchON Foundation – which works for green conservation and awareness on air pollution’s impact on health – released the survey carried out on 1,200 respondents from Ranchi and Giridih indicating that a significant number — 45 per cent of youngsters engaged in labour showed symptoms of cough and 43 per cent of soreness in throat. While a large chunk of the nearly 58 per cent elderly showed both chronic and acute symptoms of respiratory diseases like chest discomfort and 48 per cent of nasal congestion.

Government school runs with lone teacher
This government school in Jharkhand’s Latehar is being run by only one teacher for the last 10 years. Teacher Vijay Kumar Paswan has been handling nearly 150 students in classes I to VIII single handedly. According to him, he has been writing to authorities for providing more teachers for the school, but nothing has materialised so far in this regard. He has been managing the students somehow with the help of the officials of School Management Committee and children of child parliament, who often support him in teaching his students. District education officials informed that there is a dearth of teachers and hence there are some schools which are being run with only one teacher.

Mukesh Ranjan
Our correspondent in Jharkhand mukesh.r@newindianexpress.com

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