DOMICILE POLICY OF JHARKHAND
The Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department of Jharkhand, mentions the association of the state with the forests. It has 29.76% forest cover, spread over 23,721 sq km; 32 indigenous communities classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs) make up one-fourth (26%) of the state’s population; 13 districts are fully covered & three are partially covered under the Fifth Schedule Areas (FSAs). A third of Jharkhand’s population (31.6%) is urban, nearly half of which is concentrated in four cities—Bokaro, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, and Ranchi (Census 2011). The Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons & for Extending the Consequential Social, Cultural & Other Benefits Bill , 2022, was passed on 11 November 2022, by the Jharkhand legislature. As per the bill, a person can claim to be domicile of Jharkhand, if they can link their ancestry to the “1932 Khatiyan.” Khatiyan is a record of rights, including land rights. Almost all the states have some domicile policies , to protect the in