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About
Vananchal Tours
It had its genesis as far back as 1935. More than 65 years
later on August 2, 2000, Parliament passed the Bihar
Reorganization Bill creating the new state of Vananchal
(Jharkhand). Thousands poured out into the streets of Ranchi
to celebrate the occasion.
The state comprises eighteen
districts that make up southern Bihar, richly endowed with
mineral resources. Some major industries located in this
region are established Tata companies like TISCO and TELCO and
the Indian PSU, SAIL. The region that has only 35% of the
state's population, thus far contributed two-thirds of Bihar's
revenue.
With an area of 74,677 sq km the new state is
bordered by Bihar, MP, Orissa and West Bengal to its north,
west, south and east respectively.
Jharkhand is a Sanskrit word (jhar meaning shrub), later
found in several Persian and Arabic inscriptions of the
medieval period. As early as 1900, Birsa Munda first demanded
the establishment of the Munda Raj. It was Jaipal Singh, the
Oxford-educated, hockey captain of the gold winning 1928
Olympiad who articulated the demand for a separate state of
Jharkhand. In 1935, he founded the Adivasi party that in 1949
became the Jharkhand party. In 1963, its alliance with the
Congress support, led to a loss of support and identity in the
region, where it had once reigned supreme.
In the 70s, several new parties emerged like the Jharkhand
Mukti Morcha. These parties frequently split but the movement
for a separate state gained widespread sympathy. The Jharkhand
Autonomous Council that came into existence in 1993 fell far
short of most expectations, as the demand for a separate state
gained momentum. As parties supporting the movement like the
BJP and the left parties (excluding the CPM) made electoral
gains in the 90s, the dream of a state finally came to
fruition, in August 2000.
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