Ranchi: Left parties in Jharkhand criticised the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2026, which was passed by Parliament a day earlier, and claimed it would hurt the state’s revenue and affect welfare activities.CPI (ML) state secretary Manoj Bhakt on Friday sought withdrawal of the bill and announced that the party will observe Prativaad Diwas on Aug 16 and 17. Stating that the party will protest on the streets, Bhakt said CPI(ML) would stop the movement of mined minerals from the state to the other parts of the country.“The proposed law would be a dacoity on the economic interest of the state. If it becomes a law, a major source of income for the state would end. It would have a negative impact on welfare activities in fields of education, health, rural works and others.” Bhakt said BJP MPs would also be answerable to the people of the state.CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak wrote to President Droupadi Murmu and urged her to reject the bill. In his letter, Pathak claimed the bill was a direct attack on the federal structure, tribal rights and the land, water and forest resources of the state.He claimed, “As many as 84.9% of the non-tax revenue of Jharkhand comes from mining. The step would lead to losses of thousands of crores to the state. It would directly impact schemes like Maiyan Samman Yojana, Abua Awaas Yojana and others.”On Thursday, chief minister Hemant Soren termed the new legislation as a “black bill”. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha also threatened to enforce an economic blockade in the state.
