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The government on Friday said it would make a statement early next week in Parliament on the issue of Jharkhand's controversial new domicile policy.
The Lok Sabha witnessed noisy protests on Friday when several members of the opposition expressed serious concern about the agitation in the state following its government's decision to adopt a domicile policy that, they said, denies B and C category employment to those who moved into the state's territory after 1932.
Raising the issue in zero hour, against the backdrop of Friday's 24-hour Jharkhand bandh -- the fourth such general strike in eight days -- called by anti-domicile groups, Rashtriya Janata Dal member Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said, "At least five people have been killed in the violence. The state of Jharkhand is on fire."
Communist Party of India, Marxist, member Basudeb Acharya, who said the policy goes against the spirit of the Constitution, pointed out that many Bengali and Oriya schools were being closed down and the situation was volatile.
Responding to the members' fury, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan agreed that the situation was causing concern as the people of the state had launched movements both in favour of and against the domicile policy.
He said the Centre was in touch with the government in Ranchi and would make a statement early next week. He also assured the members that he would convey their sentiments to Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani.
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