Jharkhand’s Finance Minister Dr. Rameshwar Oraon is proud of being a tribal but refuses to let it eclipse his accomplishments. Ask him about how it helped his career and he makes it very clear: “Yes, job reservation benefits were available for Scheduled Tribes, but I secured the jobs on my own merit.”
It’s tough to doubt Oraon’s tenacity. Despite a humble agrarian background — he is from Palamu’s Chiyanki village — Oraon was the first matriculate in his family. His elder brother only managed Class III and a cousin stumbled before his matriculation exams.
Oraon, though, was dedicated enough to walk miles every day to get to school. He matriculated in the first division and secured admission to Ganesh Lal Agrawal College in Daltonganj, from where he got his BA (Honours) first class degree. He did his post graduation in Economics from Patna University.
At the varsity, the young tribal was inclined towards socialism and communism. In fact, eminent historian Ram Sharan Sharma, who taught in those days, played a crucial role in shaping Oraon’s personality.
“I wasn’t studying history. But Prof Sharma used to run a society for Marxist studies and I regularly attended those lectures, which helped me realise the importance of Marxism,” says Oraon, on whom Buddhism has also had a great influence.
Career Begins
Oraon joined the Indian Economic Service (IES) in 1971 but switched to the Indian Police Service (IPS) the following year. “Bihar had only one IES vacancy in 1971, which I bagged,” he says with pride. “There were only five IPS vacancies in 1972. My name figured at the top.”
The tribal minister insists he never felt discriminated against — not as a student, bureaucrat or minister.
“There were very few tribal students during my school days and perhaps none in my college and university,” Oraon recalls. “I always got the affection of all students and teachers. While in the police too, I got full support from my colleagues.”
In 2004, Oraon quit the IPS and joined the Congress. After only a few weeks, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Lohardaga and made Minister of State in the Manmohan Singh government. However, he lost the 2009 general elections.
Oraon then served as chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for two consecutive terms, from 2010 to 2016.
After he took over reins of the Jharkhand Congress, the party bettered its previous performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
Since then, Oraon has consolidated his position in state politics — heading the ministries of finance, planning, commercial taxes and food and civil supplies in the Hemant Soren government. “I don’t want to comment on what my predecessor did. But we are doing our best,” he states.
“Our government is giving free foodgrain to even those families who don’t have any type of Public Distribution System ration card. We have begun giving petrol to the poor at highly subsidised prices,” the political veteran enumerates.
The 75-year-old, who is a role model for many, feels tribals are too often guided by their emotions, quitting professionally because they don’t like being instructed or, perhaps, discriminated against.
“They just need to be given proper guidance and support,” Oraon says firmly. “There is no dearth of resources in Jharkhand. People are honest and hard working.”
