Ranchi( KCN):November 3, 2025
Jharkhand has become the first state in the country where all major constitutional and statutory commissions — including the State Information Commission, Women’s Commission, Lokayukta, Human Rights Commission, and Scheduled Caste Commission — have remained defunct or non-functional for more than five years.
Vijay Shankar Nayak, Central Vice President of the Adivasi Moolvasi Janadhikar Manch and former MLA candidate, strongly criticized the situation, calling it a “systematic denial of constitutional rights to the people of Jharkhand.”
“The Right to Information Act has been rendered meaningless in Jharkhand, as the government has deliberately kept the State Information Commission non-functional throughout its tenure,” Nayak said. “Similarly, the Lokayukta — an institution critical to fighting corruption — has been allowed to remain powerless and inactive.”
Nayak described the situation as an assault on transparency and democratic accountability, asserting that when independent oversight bodies are crippled, “governance becomes arbitrary, opaque, and authoritarian.”
He also expressed disappointment with the Jharkhand High Court, stating that despite repeated hearings, no decisive direction has been issued to ensure constitution of these institutions.
“The High Court giving date after date without concrete action has weakened public faith in constitutional governance and emboldened the government’s indifference,” he said.
Terming this prolonged institutional paralysis as a violation of the citizens’ right to justice and information, Nayak warned that if the government fails to appoint chairpersons and members to these commissions at the earliest, the Adivasi Moolvasi Janadhikar Manch will launch a statewide people’s movement to restore democratic accountability.
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