Jharkhand State Guide: History, Government, Elections, Exams

Overview

Jharkhand is a landlocked state in eastern India. Its capital is Ranchi, and Dumka is designated the sub-capital. The state covers 79,716 sq km, which makes it about the fifteenth largest by area (Wikipedia, cross-checked with the state forest department). It is bordered by Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south and West Bengal to the east. As on October 2026 it has 24 districts in 5 divisions. The name means "land of forests" (jhar, forest; khand, region).

Jharkhand came into being on 15 November 2000, when 18 southern districts of Bihar were separated under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000. The date was chosen on purpose. It is the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda (born 15 November 1875), the tribal leader whose Ulgulan (Great Tumult) of 1899 to 1900 is the best-known uprising in the region. The state is therefore observed on Jharkhand Sthapana Diwas (foundation day) on the same day as Birsa Munda Jayanti, which is also marked nationally as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (Tribal Pride Day).

Three features explain most of what the state is known for. First, geology. Almost the whole state sits on the Chotanagpur plateau, an old rocky upland that holds a large share of India's coal, iron ore, mica, copper, bauxite and uranium. Wikipedia reports that Jharkhand accounts for more than 40 per cent of India's mineral production; treat the exact share as approximate. Second, forests and rivers. Forest cover was 29.81 per cent of the state's area in the India State of Forest Report 2023, and the Damodar, Subarnarekha and Koel rivers rise on the plateau. Third, people. Census 2011 recorded 32,988,134 residents, of whom 26.21 per cent belonged to Scheduled Tribes, including the Santhal, Oraon, Munda and Ho, and eight Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups live here.

Hindi is the official language, and the state has recognised a long list of additional languages, including Santali, Mundari, Ho, Kurukh, Khortha, Nagpuri and Bengali. The neighbouring states most closely tied to Jharkhand's story are Bihar, from which it was carved, and Chhattisgarh and Odisha, which share the same tribal and plateau belt. This part of the guide covers the land and people: history, geography, administration and demography.

For exam preparation

• Capital is Ranchi, sub-capital is Dumka; area is 79,716 sq km.
• Jharkhand was formed on 15 November 2000 under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, from 18 districts of Bihar;.
• 15 November is Birsa Munda's birth anniversary and the state's foundation day.
• It borders Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.
• It has 24 districts and 5 divisions (as on October 2026).
• Census 2011 population is 32,988,134; Scheduled Tribes are 26.21 per cent.
• Forest cover is 23,765.78 sq km, or 29.81 per cent of the state area (ISFR 2023).

History

The history of Jharkhand is the history of a forested plateau that kings, sultans and the Company found hard to control. Its tribal communities kept their own land systems and village leadership for centuries. Pressure grew sharply after the Company took the diwani of eastern India in 1765, because outsiders (traders, moneylenders and landlords) began taking tribal land. The result was a series of revolts between the late 1700s and 1900. A political movement for a separate state followed in the twentieth century and ended with statehood in 2000.

Early period

In the Mahabharata-era tradition the region is called Kark Khand, a name linked to the Tropic of Cancer, which passes near Ranchi. Historians generally agree that the area lay on the edge of the great Gangetic kingdoms rather than at their core. Wikipedia places the region under the Nanda empire in the 4th century BCE and under the Mauryas around 232 BCE after Ashoka's expansion. The Chinese traveller Xuanzang, in the 7th century CE, described a kingdom called Karnasuvarna under Shashanka, which includes the eastern part of the present state. A Buddhist monastery was built at Hazaribagh in the 10th century during Pala rule.

For long periods local chiefs held the plateau. The Nagvanshi rajas of Chotanagpur ruled from the Ranchi area, and the Chero chiefs were powerful in Palamu. The dates for the early part of these lines are traditional and not firmly dated, so they are not given here.

Mughal period

Under the Mughals the region was often described through its mineral and forest wealth and its tribute-paying chiefs. Rajmahal, in the north-east, was the first capital of the Bengal Subah in 1576 (Wikipedia). In 1615 a Mughal governor of Bengal, Ibrahim Khan, defeated the Nagvanshi king Durjan Shah, who was later released and restored with the title of Shah. Later rajas built temples that still stand: the Kapilnath temple was built by Ram Shah in 1643, and the Jagannath temple at Ranchi by Ani Nath Shahdeo in 1691 (both dates as given by Wikipedia). Chotanagpur chiefs continued to pay tribute while keeping most local control.

Company rule and the tribal revolts

After the Company received the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765, it tried to bring the plateau into its revenue system. This created a class of landlords (zamindars, thikadars) and moneylenders, many of them from outside the region, who took over tribal land. Resistance began almost at once.

Revolt	Years	Region and leader	What it was about
Chuar revolt	1766 to 1809	Jungle Mahals; Bhumij zamindars and peasants	Revenue demands and loss of land rights
Tilka Manjhi's uprising	1780 to 1785	Rajmahal hills, Santhal Pargana area; Tilka Manjhi	Early armed resistance to Company officials
Kol revolt	1831 to 1832	Chotanagpur and Singhbhum; Bindrai Manki and Budhu Bhagat	Land taken by outsiders, forced labour
Santhal Hul	1855 to 1856	Santhal Pargana; Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu	Moneylenders, landlords, revenue system
Birsa Munda's Ulgulan	1895 to 1900	Khunti, Tamar; Birsa Munda	Land, forest rights, a Munda raj
Tana Bhagat movement	from 1914	Gumla, Ranchi; Oraon followers	Moral reform, refusal of rent and forced labour

(Dates from Wikipedia's History of Jharkhand; the Chuar and Tilka Manjhi dates are given as published there.)

Revolt of 1857. During the Revolt of 1857 several local leaders, among them Thakur Vishwanath Shahdeo of Barkagarh in the Ranchi region, joined the rising against British rule. Shahdeo's name appears in standard lists of Jharkhand's 1857 leaders.

The Santhal Hul, 1855

The Santals had been settled in the Damin-i-Koh area near the Rajmahal hills in the early nineteenth century. They were encouraged to clear forest and farm, but they soon fell into debt to moneylenders, who charged very high rates, and into bonded labour. The Santhal Hul (hul means rebellion) began on 30 June 1855, when the four Murmu brothers, Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand and Bhairav, called a gathering of thousands of Santals near Bhognadih and declared a Santhal raj. Their sisters Phulo and Jhano also took part and are remembered in Santhal tradition. The estimates of rebel numbers range from about ten thousand to sixty thousand, and 30 June is observed in the state as Hul Diwas.

The Company's troops put down the rising, with martial law declared on 8 November 1855 and lifted on 3 January 1856. Wikipedia reports 10,000 to 15,000 deaths, though counts differ. The immediate result was administrative. The Santal Parganas district was created in 1855 as a separate unit with simpler rules, and the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act of 1876 later restricted the transfer of Santhal land. The area remains a separate division today as Santhal Pargana.

Birsa Munda and the Ulgulan

Birsa Munda was born on 15 November 1875 at Ulihatu in what is now Khunti district. He built a religious and political movement, called Birsait by his followers, who gave him the title Dharti Aaba (father of the earth). He told the Mundas to give up superstition and rent payment and spoke of an end to Company and landlord rule, and the return of Munda rule. Around Christmas 1899 about seven thousand followers gathered, and attacks on missions, police posts and landlords followed in Khunti, Tamar and nearby areas. Birsa was captured on 3 February 1900 at Jamkopai forest (Wikipedia). He died in Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900, aged 24, and the movement lost momentum.

Its lasting effect was legal. The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act of 1908 recognised the customary land rights of Mundas and other tribal groups and restricted the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals. It is still among the most debated land laws in the state.

Twentieth century: the Jharkhand idea

Under British administration the plateau was part of the Bengal Presidency until 1912, then of the province of Bihar and Orissa (see Bihar). A new educated tribal leadership appeared in the early twentieth century, often through Christian mission schools. The key steps in the demand for a separate state were:

• 1928: The Chotanagpur Unnati Samaj sent a memorandum to the Simon Commission asking for a separate province.
• 1938: The Adivasi Mahasabha was founded, and Jaipal Singh Munda became its leader. He is also remembered as an Indian hockey captain at the 1928 Olympics (a widely repeated fact; not separately checked here).
• 1949: The Jharkhand Party was formed. The States Reorganisation Commission did not accept the demand, mainly because the region had no single dominant language and a large non-tribal population.
• 1972: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was founded by Binod Bihari Mahato, Shibu Soren and A. K. Roy. It broadened the movement beyond tribal communities to include workers and other backward castes.
• 1986: The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) was established.
• 1994 to 1995: A Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) was created as a partial concession.

Formation of the state

The Bihar Reorganisation Bill was introduced by the NDA government at the Centre as part of an election commitment. The Lok Sabha passed the Act on 2 August 2000 and the Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2000, and it came into force on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand was formed from 18 districts of southern Bihar. The 54 Lok Sabha seats of undivided Bihar were split as 40 for Bihar and 14 for Jharkhand. The Act created a separate legislative assembly, High Court, public service commission and police for the new state. Debate over sharing of assets and pension liabilities continued afterwards, and leaders in both states criticised parts of the division.

For exam preparation

• The Santhal Hul began on 30 June 1855 under Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu; Hul Diwas is on 30 June.
• Chand, Bhairav, Phulo and Jhano were the other Murmu siblings associated with the Hul.
• The Santal Parganas district was created in 1855; the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act is of 1876.
• The Kol revolt (1831 to 1832) was led by Bindrai Manki and Budhu Bhagat.
• Birsa Munda was born on 15 November 1875 at Ulihatu, led the Ulgulan of 1899 to 1900 and died in Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900.
• The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act dates from 1908.
• The Tana Bhagat movement began in 1914; the Adivasi Mahasabha was set up in 1938 under Jaipal Singh Munda.
• JMM was founded in 1972; the Bihar Reorganisation Act was passed by Parliament on 2 and 11 August 2000.

Geography

Jharkhand lies on the Chotanagpur plateau in the eastern part of the Indian peninsula, roughly between 22 and 25 degrees north. The state measures about 463 km from north to south and 380 km from east to west (Wikipedia). It has no coast. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the state near Ranchi. Most of it is an undulating upland, cut by river valleys, with hills of granite and gneiss. The north is hilly and the south-east slopes towards the Odisha and Bengal plains.

Physiography

The Chotanagpur plateau. This is the main physical feature. It spreads over much of Jharkhand and parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar, with a total area of about 65,000 sq km according to Wikipedia. It is built of old Precambrian rock. Local people describe it as three steps. The western section, where flat-topped highlands called pats lie, reaches about 910 to 1,070 m. The Ranchi plateau is the largest of the steps, and the eastern edge near Singhbhum slopes down to about 300 m. The Hazaribagh plateau and the lower Koderma plateau lie to the north.

Highest point. Parasnath Hill in Giridih district is the highest point at 1,365 m in Wikipedia's Jharkhand article; other references, including the plateau article, give about 1,350 m, so use the figure from your reference book. It is also called Sri Sammed Sikharji, a major Jain pilgrimage site, and Marang Buru by the Santals. Other well-known hills are Netarhat, in Latehar district, at 1,128 m, which is called the Queen of Chotanagpur and is also known for Netarhat Vidyalaya, a residential school established in 1954; and Trikut hill near Deoghar.

Santhal Pargana and the Rajmahal hills. North of the Damodar valley, in the north-east of the state, lies the Santhal Pargana region. Its eastern edge is formed by the Rajmahal hills, which run along the Ganga and form the boundary with the river plain. The Ganga touches the state along Sahebganj district in the north-east. The land here is hilly, with small patches of valley farmland, and it is the home of the Santhals and the Paharia groups.

Plains and valleys. There are no large plains in Jharkhand. The Damodar valley in the north and the Subarnarekha and Kharkai valleys in the south-east are the main open lowlands, and they are also the main industrial belts.

Rivers

Jharkhand has no big navigable river. Its rivers are plateau streams that rush down in the monsoon, carve waterfalls and dry up to a trickle in summer. They are better known for dams, power and mining than for transport.

River	Origin and course	Notes
Damodar	Rises on the Chotanagpur plateau in Palamu region, flows east across the coalfields, then into West Bengal and the Hooghly. About 592 km (Wikipedia)	Called the Sorrow of Bengal for its past floods. The Damodar Valley Corporation (1948) was India's first multipurpose river valley project. Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Panchet dams were built in the 1950s
Barakar	Major tributary of the Damodar	Flows through coalfields; Maithon dam is on this river (commonly stated)
Subarnarekha	Rises near Nagri (Piska) close to Ranchi, flows through Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha to the Bay of Bengal. About 395 km	Name means "gold line". Tributaries include the Kharkai, Kanchi and Karkari. Hundru Falls (about 98 m) is on this river. Jamshedpur stands on it
North Koel	Rises at Chulha Pani in Lohardaga district, about 360 km in the state; flows through Betla National Park and joins the Son near Haidarnagar	Tributaries are the Auranga, Amanat and Burha. The Mandal dam near Kutku was proposed on it and has faced delays since 2023
South Koel	Rises on the plateau, drains the Singhbhum region	Joins the Sankh near Rourkela and forms the Brahmani (commonly stated)
Ajay, Mayurakshi	Flow east from the Santhal Pargana	Drain towards the Hooghly system in West Bengal
Kharkai	Tributary of the Subarnarekha	Joins at Jamshedpur (commonly stated)
Son	Skirts the north-west boundary	Receives the North Koel; flows on to the Ganga in Bihar

The state's rivers belong to two broad systems. The Damodar, Ajay, Mayurakshi and Son finally reach the Ganga system, and the Subarnarekha, South Koel and their neighbours flow to the Bay of Bengal by their own routes. The central plateau is therefore a watershed region.

Climate

The state has a humid subtropical climate in the north, changing to tropical wet and dry in the south-east. Summers are hot, with highs around 37 degrees Celsius in May at typical stations (Wikipedia). The south-west monsoon, from about June to October, brings most of the rain, roughly 1,000 to 1,500 mm a year depending on location. Winters are cool, and Ranchi has December temperatures of about 10 to 24 degrees Celsius. Because the plateau is high, Ranchi and Netarhat are cooler than the plains of Bihar and Bengal at the same latitude. Rainfall is uneven, and dry spells hurt rain-fed farming on the plateau.

Soils

The common soils are red and yellow soils on the plateau, laterite on the higher flat-topped land, and alluvial soil in river valleys and the Ganga-side north-east. Red soil is low in nutrients and holds water poorly, which is why paddy on the upper slopes depends on rain and why terracing is common. (Soil descriptions are general; no state-specific percentages are given because they were not verified.)

Forests

According to the India State of Forest Report 2023, as published by the state forest department, forest cover is 23,765.78 sq km, or 29.81 per cent of the geographical area. It breaks down as follows.

Class	Area (sq km)	Share of state area
Very dense forest	2,635.35	3.31 per cent
Moderately dense forest	9,640.99	12.09 per cent
Open forest	11,489.44	14.41 per cent
Scrub	558.32	0.70 per cent

Sal is the state tree and the dominant tree in dry deciduous forests. The state forest department lists eight Champion and Seth forest types in the state. Within recorded forest area, protected forest is about 81 per cent, reserved forest about 19 per cent and unclassed forest a small fraction. Forests matter for livelihood: tribal families gather minor forest produce such as tendu leaves, sal seeds, lac and mahua.

Minerals

The state's mineral wealth lies in the old rocks of the plateau. The main belts are:

• Coal: the Damodar valley holds the Jharia, Bokaro and Karanpura coalfields, and other fields lie in Chatra, Hazaribagh and the Rajmahal area. Jharia, near Dhanbad, is India's principal source of coking coal.
• Iron ore: the Singhbhum belt, in West Singhbhum, with mines near Noamundi and Gua.
• Copper and uranium: the copper belt of East Singhbhum near Ghatsila, and uranium at Jaduguda near Jamshedpur.
• Mica: the Koderma and Giridih belt, once one of the world's principal mica areas.
• Bauxite: the western plateau, in Lohardaga, Gumla and Latehar.
• Others: limestone, graphite, kyanite, china clay, and granite.

(Mineral lists are the commonly cited belts; Wikipedia's Jharkhand and Chota Nagpur articles name coal, iron ore, copper, mica, bauxite, graphite, limestone and uranium. Mine names and exact production shares were not independently checked.) Mining and the industries built on it, including steel at Jamshedpur and Bokaro, are the reason the Damodar and Subarnarekha valleys are the most urban parts of the state.

Wildlife and protected areas

The Chotanagpur dry deciduous forests are home to Asian elephants, tigers (now few), leopards, sloth bears, wolves and a rich bird life. The elephant is the state animal and the koel the state bird (Drishti IAS). The main protected areas are given below.

Area	Location	Notes
Palamau Tiger Reserve	Palamu, Latehar, Garhwa	1,129.93 sq km (core 414.08, buffer 715.85); among India's first nine tiger reserves, declared 1973; tiger numbers have fallen sharply (six reported in January 2025)
Betla National Park	Latehar and Palamu	226.32 sq km, inside the tiger reserve; elephants, deer, gaur
Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary	Hazaribagh	Listed by Wikipedia; area not confirmed
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary	Near Jamshedpur (East Singhbhum and Saraikela side)	Known for elephants (commonly stated)
Koderma, Lawalong, Palkot sanctuaries	Koderma, Chatra, Gumla	Listed by Wikipedia; areas not confirmed
Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary	Latehar	India's wolf-specific sanctuary

Other waterfalls and landmarks, such as Hundru, Dassam and Jonha, are covered in the tourism section of this guide.

For exam preparation

• The state lies mostly on the Chotanagpur plateau; Parasnath (about 1,365 m) is the highest point.
• Netarhat in Latehar district (1,128 m) is called the Queen of Chotanagpur.
• The Damodar was called the Sorrow of Bengal; the Damodar Valley Corporation was set up in 1948.
• The Subarnarekha rises near Nagri/Piska close to Ranchi and flows into the Bay of Bengal; Hundru Falls is on it.
• The North Koel rises in Lohardaga district and joins the Son.
• Forest cover is 29.81 per cent (ISFR 2023); sal is the state tree.
• Palamau Tiger Reserve was one of the first nine tiger reserves, declared in 1973; Betla is the national park inside it.
• The elephant is the state animal and the koel is the state bird.

Administration and districts

Jharkhand has 24 districts grouped into five divisions: Palamu, North Chotanagpur, South Chotanagpur, Kolhan and Santhal Pargana. As on October 2026 this count is correct per Wikipedia's district list. Each district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner (an IAS officer, who is also District Magistrate and Collector), and each division by a Commissioner. The state follows the three-tier Panchayati Raj system, and large parts are Fifth Schedule areas, with special rules for tribal land and village self-government.

Divisions

Division	Headquarters	Districts
Palamu	Medininagar	Palamu, Garhwa, Latehar
North Chotanagpur	Hazaribagh	Chatra, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Giridih, Ramgarh, Bokaro, Dhanbad
South Chotanagpur	Ranchi	Lohardaga, Gumla, Simdega, Ranchi, Khunti
Kolhan	Chaibasa	West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, East Singhbhum
Santhal Pargana	Dumka	Jamtara, Deoghar, Dumka, Pakur, Godda, Sahebganj

Kolhan takes its name from the Ho-inhabited Kolhan area of Singhbhum. Santhal Pargana preserves the name of the 1855 district. Divisional headquarters are from Wikipedia's list.

District table

Population is from Census 2011 and area from the same Wikipedia table.

District	Headquarters	Division	Population (2011)	Area (sq km)
Bokaro	Bokaro Steel City	North Chotanagpur	2,062,330	2,883
Chatra	Chatra	North Chotanagpur	1,042,886	3,718
Deoghar	Deoghar	Santhal Pargana	1,492,073	2,477
Dhanbad	Dhanbad	North Chotanagpur	2,684,487	2,040
Dumka	Dumka	Santhal Pargana	1,321,442	3,761
East Singhbhum	Jamshedpur	Kolhan	2,293,919	3,562
Garhwa	Garhwa	Palamu	1,322,784	4,093
Giridih	Giridih	North Chotanagpur	2,445,474	4,854
Godda	Godda	Santhal Pargana	1,313,551	2,266
Gumla	Gumla	South Chotanagpur	1,025,213	5,360
Hazaribagh	Hazaribagh	North Chotanagpur	1,734,495	3,555
Jamtara	Jamtara	Santhal Pargana	791,042	1,811
Khunti	Khunti	South Chotanagpur	531,885	2,535
Koderma	Koderma	North Chotanagpur	716,259	1,655
Latehar	Latehar	Palamu	726,978	4,291
Lohardaga	Lohardaga	South Chotanagpur	461,790	1,502
Pakur	Pakur	Santhal Pargana	900,422	1,811
Palamu	Medininagar	Palamu	1,939,869	4,393
Ramgarh	Ramgarh Cantonment	North Chotanagpur	949,443	1,341
Ranchi	Ranchi	South Chotanagpur	2,914,253	5,097
Sahebganj	Sahebganj	Santhal Pargana	1,150,567	2,063
Saraikela-Kharsawan	Saraikela	Kolhan	1,065,056	2,657
Simdega	Simdega	South Chotanagpur	599,578	3,774
West Singhbhum	Chaibasa	Kolhan	1,502,338	7,224

The largest district by area is West Singhbhum (7,224 sq km) and the smallest is Ramgarh (1,341 sq km). The most populous is Ranchi (2,914,253) and the least populous is Lohardaga (461,790). Dhanbad is the most densely populated, at about 1,316 persons per sq km, and Simdega the least, at about 159 (Wikipedia). The district names appear in the sources with small spelling variations, such as Sahibganj for Sahebganj and Kodarma for Koderma.

Formation of new districts

At statehood in 2000 the state inherited 18 districts. Khunti, carved from Ranchi, and Ramgarh, carved from Hazaribagh, became districts on 12 September 2007 (Wikipedia). The remaining additions between 2000 and 2007 are not dated in the sources opened for this guide, so exact years are left out. Several are tribal-majority districts split off to bring administration closer to remote areas. Khunti, the birthplace of Birsa Munda, and Simdega, Gumla and Latehar all have high tribal shares, as the demography section below shows. Divisional boundaries follow the old colonial divisions of Chotanagpur and Santal Parganas, with Palamu and Kolhan carved out later.

Capital and sub-capital

Ranchi is the state capital and the seat of the High Court and the secretariat. Dumka is designated the sub-capital, a nod to the Santhal Pargana region, which is far from Ranchi. Industrial and mining centres are Jamshedpur, Bokaro Steel City, Dhanbad, Ramgarh and Hazaribagh.

Local government

Panchayati Raj. Rural areas follow the three-tier system under the 73rd Amendment: gram panchayat at village level, panchayat samiti at block level and zila parishad at district level. The count of panchayats, blocks and sub-divisions is not confirmed in the sources opened for this guide and is left out here; check the latest figure from the Panchayati Raj department.

Urban bodies. Towns are governed under the 74th Amendment by municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats. Ranchi, Dhanbad and several other cities have municipal corporations. The exact count of urban local bodies is not confirmed here.

Fifth Schedule areas and PESA

Much of Jharkhand is a Scheduled Area under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which allows special protection for tribal land and administration through a Tribes Advisory Council and the Governor. According to reports on the 2026 PESA rules, 13 of the 24 districts are fully Fifth Schedule areas and 3 districts are partly covered. Reports differ slightly in wording (one search summary said two districts are partly covered), so the safe statement is "13 fully and a few partly". Jharkhand notified rules to implement the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) on 2 January 2026, about 25 years after statehood and as one of the last Fifth Schedule states to do so (Drishti IAS). The rules make the gram sabha the key body in the Scheduled Areas, with powers over minor forest produce, small water bodies and minor minerals, local dispute resolution and development plans. A figure of 16,022 villages and 2,074 panchayats in the Scheduled Areas was reported in a news item and is treated as reported. The state has no Sixth Schedule area; the Sixth Schedule applies to parts of the north-east.

For exam preparation

• The state has 24 districts and 5 divisions: Palamu, North Chotanagpur, South Chotanagpur, Kolhan and Santhal Pargana (as on October 2026).
• Divisional headquarters are Medininagar (Palamu), Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Chaibasa (Kolhan) and Dumka (Santhal Pargana).
• Khunti and Ramgarh became districts on 12 September 2007.
• West Singhbhum is the largest district by area; Ramgarh is the smallest.
• Ranchi is the most populous district; Lohardaga is the least populous (Census 2011).
• Dhanbad has the highest density among districts.
• A DC (IAS officer) heads each district; the state follows the Panchayati Raj system and has Fifth Schedule areas, with PESA rules notified on 2 January 2026.

Demography

Jharkhand is a mainly rural state with a large tribal minority. Census 2011, still the latest published census, counted 32,988,134 people, which made it the 14th most populous state. About three out of four residents lived in villages, and more than one in four belonged to a Scheduled Tribe. Population density was well below that of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. All figures below are from Census 2011 unless stated.

Indicator	Census 2011 figure
Population	32,988,134
Males / females	about 16.93 million / about 16.0 million
Density	414 per sq km
Decadal growth, 2001 to 2011	22.4 per cent (reported)
Sex ratio	947 or 948 females per 1,000 males (sources differ)
Urban population	24.05 per cent
Rural population	75.95 per cent
Scheduled Tribes	8,646,189 (26.21 per cent)
Scheduled Castes	3,985,644 (12.08 per cent)
Literacy	66.41 per cent (see note below)

Literacy note. Sources opened gave 66.41 per cent for the 2011 total, with district extremes in Ranchi (higher) and Pakur (lowest). Wikipedia describes the 66.41 per cent figure as drawn from provisional findings, another page gives 67.63 per cent, and a third gives male 76.84 and female 53.56 per cent. Because these conflict, the guide uses "about two-thirds" and the 66.41 figure as reported, and the exact final male and female rates are not confirmed.

The sex ratio changed from 941 in 2001 to 948 in 2011 (as reported by Unacademy). The child sex ratio is not confirmed and is left out.

Languages

Hindi is the official language. Wikipedia reports the following mother-tongue shares for 2011, using the state's grouping of languages.

Language	Share of population (Census 2011, as reported)
Khortha	23.5 per cent
Hindi	21.4 per cent
Bengali	9.74 per cent
Santali	8.77 per cent
Nagpuri	7.23 per cent
Urdu	5.96 per cent

Besides Hindi the state has recognised a list of second official languages: Angika, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Bhumij, Ho, Kharia, Khortha, Kurmali, Kurukh, Magahi, Maithili, Mundari, Nagpuri, Odia, Santali and Urdu. Santali, written in the Ol Chiki script devised by Pandit Raghunath Murmu, is the tribal language included in the Eighth Schedule (in 2003; commonly stated). Mundari, Ho and Kharia belong to the Austroasiatic family, and Kurukh, the Oraon language, is Dravidian.

Religion

Religion	Share (Census 2011, as reported)
Hinduism	67.8 per cent
Islam	14.5 per cent
Sarna (indigenous faith)	12.5 per cent
Christianity	4.3 per cent
Sikhism	0.22 per cent
Jainism	0.05 per cent
Buddhism	0.03 per cent

Sarna is a nature-centred faith whose worship centres on sacred groves (sarna sthal). Christians are in the majority in Simdega district (51.04 per cent). Sarna followers form majorities in Lohardaga (51.01 per cent) and West Singhbhum (62.29 per cent). Muslims form about 35 per cent in Pakur and 34 per cent in Sahebganj. (District religion figures are from Wikipedia.)

Tribes

Census 2011 counted 8,646,189 Scheduled Tribe members (26.21 per cent). Sources differ on the number of listed tribes, with figures of 32 and 33 appearing, so the number is not confirmed here. The main tribes are the Santhal, the Oraon (Kurukh), the Munda, the Ho, the Kharia, the Bhumij and the Lohra. Santals are the largest tribe; the all-India Santal population was about 7.5 million in 2011 (Wikipedia), but the Jharkhand-only count and the figures for other tribes are not confirmed here.

Tribe	Main area	Language family
Santhal	Santhal Pargana, Singhbhum, Hazaribagh	Austroasiatic (Santali)
Oraon	Ranchi, Lohardaga, Gumla	Dravidian (Kurukh)
Munda	Khunti, Ranchi, Singhbhum	Austroasiatic (Mundari)
Ho	Kolhan (West Singhbhum)	Austroasiatic (Ho; Warang Citi script)
Kharia	Simdega, Gumla, Ranchi	Austroasiatic (Kharia)
Bhumij	East and West Singhbhum	Austroasiatic (Bhumij)

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. Jharkhand has eight PVTGs: Asur, Birhor, Birjia, Hill Kharia, Korwa, Mal Paharia, Parhaiya and Sauria Paharia. Some sources add a ninth, Savar; the eight-group list is what the sources opened agree on, and the Savar inclusion is not confirmed. Only the Asur population (22,459, Census 2011) was confirmed in the search results.

Where tribes are concentrated. The ST share in 2011 was highest in Simdega (78.23 per cent), Khunti (77.77), Gumla (72.11), West Singhbhum (71.1), Latehar (66.85) and Lohardaga (60.21), all on the south and west plateau.

Urbanisation and development indicators

Urban population was 24.05 per cent in 2011, against 75.95 per cent rural. The main urban centres are Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro, concentrated in the mining and steel belts. NFHS-5 (2019 to 21) reported that the share of stunted children under five fell from 45 per cent in NFHS-4 to 40 per cent (reported by a secondary news summary; to be checked against the NFHS-5 fact sheet). Poverty, the multidimensional index and HDI are covered in the economy part of this guide.

For exam preparation

• Census 2011 population is 32,988,134; the state ranks 14th; density is 414 per sq km.
• The Scheduled Tribe share is 26.21 per cent (8,646,189) and the Scheduled Caste share is 12.08 per cent.
• Urban share is 24.05 per cent.
• Santhal is the largest tribe; Santali, Mundari, Ho and Kharia are Austroasiatic languages, and Kurukh (Oraon) is Dravidian.
• The eight PVTGs are Asur, Birhor, Birjia, Hill Kharia, Korwa, Mal Paharia, Parhaiya and Sauria Paharia.
• Simdega has the highest ST share (78.23 per cent) and is the only district with a Christian majority.
• The largest religion is Hinduism (67.8 per cent), then Islam (14.5 per cent), Sarna (12.5 per cent) and Christianity (4.3 per cent).
• The most spoken mother tongue is Khortha (23.5 per cent), ahead of Hindi (21.4 per cent).

How the state is governed

Jharkhand has a parliamentary system under the Constitution of India: a Governor as constitutional head, a Chief Minister who leads an elected government, and a single-chamber legislature of 81 members. This section describes structure, which stays the same from one government to the next. Names of sitting office-holders change, so this guide does not list them; for the current Governor, Chief Minister, ministers, Chief Secretary, DGP and Chief Justice, use the official state portal and our current affairs pages. Past office-holders with completed tenures are listed later in this part. The state was created on 15 November 2000 out of southern Bihar, and its capital is Ranchi.

The executive

Office	Role	How filled
Governor	Constitutional head; summons, prorogues and dissolves the Assembly, gives assent to bills or returns them for reconsideration, appoints the Chief Minister	Appointed by the President for five years, serving at the President's pleasure; 11 people have completed a tenure since 2000, counting one additional-charge spell (the incumbent is the 12th, per Wikipedia)
Chief Minister	Head of the government; leads the council of ministers	Leader of the party or alliance that commands a majority in the Assembly, appointed by the Governor
Council of ministers	Runs the departments; collectively responsible to the Assembly	Article 164(1A) caps it at 15 per cent of the House, which is 12 for 81 seats (12.15 rounded down); the same article sets a floor of 12
Chief Secretary	Head of the civil service and the secretariat	Senior IAS officer chosen by the government
Director General of Police	Head of the state police	IPS officer, selected under the Supreme Court's Prakash Singh guidelines
Advocate General	Chief legal adviser to the government	Appointed by the Governor under Article 165

Ranchi is the seat of the Raj Bhavan, the secretariat, the Vidhan Sabha and the High Court. The first Assembly met in the Old Secretariat, and Wikipedia describes the present meeting place as the new Vidhan Sabha at Ranchi; we did not confirm when it came into use.

Departments and bodies

The government works through departments headed by ministers and run by secretaries. Constitutional and statutory bodies include:

• the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC, Articles 315 to 316), the recruiter for state civil services (see our exam guides);
• the Jharkhand State Election Commission (Article 243K), which conducts panchayat and municipal elections; its first State Election Commissioner served from 14 May 2001 to 15 May 2004 (Wikipedia);
• the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission, which recruits for many non-gazetted posts;
• the Tribes Advisory Council under the Fifth Schedule, the State Finance Commission, the State Information Commission and the State Human Rights Commission; and
• the Lokayukta, covered in the next section.

The Chief Electoral Officer, a senior officer appointed with the approval of the Election Commission of India, runs elections to the Assembly and Parliament. Wikipedia gives the state 24 districts and 5 divisions; Part A carries the district table.

Fifth Schedule and PESA

Jharkhand has no Sixth Schedule area. Its tribal-majority districts are Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule, where the Governor has special powers over law-making and land and a Tribes Advisory Council advises on tribal welfare. News reports say 13 districts are fully covered (Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga, Gumla, Simdega, Latehar, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur) and three partly (Palamu, Godda and Garhwa); one report counts two partly covered districts, so treat the partial list as reported. The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, known as PESA, gives the gram sabha a stronger role in these areas. The state's rules came late: the cabinet cleared them in December 2025, and a notification of 2 January 2026 is reported to have brought the law into operation across about 2,074 panchayats and 16,022 villages (news reports, not the notification itself). The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949 restrict the transfer of tribal land and recur in political disputes, covered later.

For exam preparation

• The Governor is appointed by the President; the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor.
• The council of ministers is capped at 15 per cent of the House under Article 164(1A), inserted by the 91st Amendment (2003); for 81 seats, that is 12.
• Jharkhand was created on 15 November 2000 under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000; the capital is Ranchi.
• The Fifth Schedule, not the Sixth, applies to Jharkhand's tribal areas; PESA is the 1996 law for Scheduled Areas.
• The State Election Commission comes under Article 243K; the Public Service Commission under Articles 315 to 316.

Legislature, Parliament and judiciary

Jharkhand has a single-chamber legislature, the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), of 81 elected members. There is no Vidhan Parishad. The state sends 6 members to the Rajya Sabha and 14 to the Lok Sabha. The Assembly elected in November 2024 is the sixth.

Vidhan Sabha

The first Assembly, from November 2000, was made up of the members who had been elected in the February 2000 Bihar Assembly election from constituencies that fell in the new state, plus one nominated Anglo-Indian member, making 82 (Wikipedia). The Anglo-Indian nomination was ended by the 104th Constitutional Amendment (in force January 2020), so the House now has 81 members, all elected. The majority mark is 41. Of the 81 seats, 28 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 9 for Scheduled Castes (Wikipedia), leaving 44 General seats (our subtraction). The Delimitation Commission order of 2008 fixed the present map.

Strength can change through by-elections, resignations and defections, so we give the election result and not the live position. The result of the November 2024 election, which is the latest, is below.

Party or alliance	Seats, 2024 election
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)	34
Indian National Congress (INC)	16
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)	4
CPI(ML) Liberation	2
INDIA bloc total	56
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	21
AJSU Party, Janata Dal (United), LJP (Ram Vilas)	1 each
NDA total	24
Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM)	1
Total	81

We did not confirm the number of women elected in 2024.

Speakers and officers

The Speaker presides over the House and is elected by members; past Speakers are listed later in this part, and the incumbent is not named. Wikipedia reports that the post of Deputy Speaker has been vacant since 6 March 2005, which it calls the longest such vacancy in India. We could not cross-check this against the Assembly's own site, so treat it as reported.

Rajya Sabha

Jharkhand elects 6 members, who serve six-year terms and are chosen by MLAs through the single transferable vote, with staggered terms. We have not listed members, and we did not confirm the figure of 6 from the Rajya Sabha website in this pass.

Lok Sabha

The state has 14 constituencies: 5 reserved for Scheduled Tribes, 1 for Scheduled Castes and 8 General, as redrawn by the 2008 delimitation order.

Constituency	Category	Constituency	Category
Rajmahal	ST	Dhanbad	General
Dumka	ST	Ranchi	General
Godda	General	Jamshedpur	General
Chatra	General	Singhbhum	ST
Koderma	General	Khunti	ST
Giridih	General	Lohardaga	ST
Palamu	SC	Hazaribagh	General

High Court

Jharkhand has its own High Court at Ranchi, established on 15 November 2000 (Wikipedia). Before that, the region came under the Patna High Court. Wikipedia gives a sanctioned strength of 25 judges, made up of 20 permanent and 5 additional, which the Centre can revise. A new High Court complex at Dhurwa, Ranchi, was inaugurated on 24 May 2023 by the President; Wikipedia calls it the largest High Court complex in India by area, on about 165 acres. Appeals go to the Supreme Court. Below the High Court sit district and sessions courts, family courts and special courts. Chief Justices with completed tenures are listed later in this part.

Lokayukta, Election Commission and other bodies

Wikipedia says the Jharkhand Lokayukta Act was passed in 2001 and the institution became operational on 4 December 2004. We could not confirm the Act's year or the current status of the office from the state's own pages, so we do not describe how the post is filled or who holds it. The State Election Commission under Article 243K conducts panchayat and municipal elections and prepares the rolls for them.

For exam preparation

• The Assembly has 81 seats: 44 General, 28 ST and 9 SC; the Anglo-Indian nominated seat was abolished in 2020.
• Jharkhand has a unicameral legislature; it has no Legislative Council.
• Jharkhand has 14 Lok Sabha seats: 5 ST (Rajmahal, Dumka, Singhbhum, Khunti, Lohardaga) and 1 SC (Palamu).
• The Jharkhand High Court was established on 15 November 2000 at Ranchi; its new complex at Dhurwa opened on 24 May 2023.
• The sanctioned strength of the High Court is 25 judges (20 permanent, 5 additional; Wikipedia).
• The first Assembly was formed from Bihar's 2000 members, with 82 seats including 1 nominated.

Elections

Jharkhand has held five Assembly elections since the first Assembly of 2000 to 2005, which was formed from members elected in Bihar. The 2005 and 2009 results were hung Houses with frequent changes of government. The 2014 election gave the BJP and its ally a majority, and the 2019 and 2024 elections went to the JMM-led alliance. In Lok Sabha polls the BJP and its allies have led since 2009. Panchayat elections began late, in 2010, and municipal elections have been held at irregular intervals.

The first Assembly, 2000 to 2005

There was no election in 2000. The members elected from the region in the Bihar poll of February 2000 became the Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha on 15 November 2000, with one nominated Anglo-Indian member making 82 (Wikipedia). The first Chief Minister headed a BJP government and the first Speaker was from the Janata Dal (United). We did not confirm the party-wise seat position of this House. Its term ran to early 2005.

Vidhan Sabha elections, 2005 to 2024

Seat counts and vote shares are from Wikipedia's election articles, which cite the Election Commission. Use them for comparison, not exact answers.

Year	Polling	Seats	Turnout	Largest parties (seats)	Government
2005	3 to 23 Feb (3 phases); count 27 Feb	81	57.00%	BJP 30, JMM 17, INC 9, RJD 7, JD(U) 6, Independents 3, AJSU 2	Hung House; several governments
2009	25 Nov to 18 Dec	81	56.97%	BJP 18, JMM 18, INC 14, JVM(P) 11, AJSU 5, RJD 5, JD(U) 2	Hung House; coalition, then President's rule
2014	25 Nov to 20 Dec (5 phases); count 23 Dec	81	66.53%	BJP 37, JMM 19, JVM(P) 8, INC 6, AJSU 5	BJP-led, with AJSU
2019	30 Nov to 20 Dec (5 phases); count 23 Dec	81	65.38%	JMM 30, BJP 25, INC 16, JVM(P) 3, AJSU 2, Independents 2, RJD 1	JMM-INC-RJD alliance
2024	13 and 20 Nov; count 24 Nov	81	68.34%	JMM 34, BJP 21, INC 16, RJD 4, CPI(ML)L 2	JMM-led alliance

Small parties are left out of the table. In 2005, the CPI(ML)L won 1 seat, the All India Forward Bloc 2, the Jharkhand Party 1 and the NCP 1, and our source also lists 2 seats to a party whose name we could not read reliably; those are included only so that the total reaches 81. In 2009, six small parties won one seat each and Independents won 2. In 2014, BSP, CPI(ML)L, Jharkhand Party, MCC, JBSP and NJSM won one seat each. In 2019, the CPI(ML)L and NCP won one each. In 2024, the LJP (Ram Vilas), JD(U), AJSU and JLKM won one each.

Year	Vote share of the leading parties
2005	BJP about 24% (our sources give 23.57% and 24.57%), JMM 14.29%, INC 12.05%, RJD 8.48%, Independents 15.31%
2009	BJP 20.18%, INC 16.16%, JMM 15.20%, JVM(P) 8.99%, AJSU 5.12%, RJD 5.03%
2014	BJP 31.26%, JMM 20.43%, INC 10.46%, JVM(P) 9.99%, AJSU 3.68%, RJD 3.13%
2019	BJP 33.37%, JMM 18.72%, INC 13.88%, AJSU 8.10%, JVM(P) 5.45%, RJD 2.75%
2024	BJP 33.18%, JMM 23.44%, INC 15.56%, JLKM 6.20%, AJSU 3.54%, RJD 3.44%

In 2009 the BJP led in votes and tied the JMM in seats. In 2019 and 2024 the BJP had the highest vote share of any party yet finished second in seats.

The three most recent elections

2014. The BJP won 37 seats with 31.26 per cent of the vote and, with 5 AJSU seats, had 42 in the NDA, one more than the majority mark. The JMM won 19 and the JVM(P) 8. Turnout was 66.53 per cent, about 9.5 points above 2009. Voter-verified paper audit trail machines were used with EVMs in seven constituencies including Jamshedpur East and Bokaro (Wikipedia). The government was sworn in on 28 December 2014. In February 2015, six JVM(P) legislators joined the BJP, and the BJP's strength later rose to 44 over the term (Wikipedia). The Chief Minister completed a full five-year term, the first to do so in the state.

2019. The BJP's seats fell from 37 to 25, although its vote share was nearly unchanged; the Chief Minister of the day lost his own Jamshedpur East seat (Wikipedia). The JMM won 30, the Congress 16 and the RJD 1, giving the alliance 47 seats. The AJSU, with the BJP in 2014, fought outside the NDA and won 2 seats. The alliance government was sworn in on 29 December 2019.

2024. Polling was in two phases with 1,166 candidates (638 in the first and 528 in the second). The JMM-led alliance won 56 seats with 44.37 per cent of the vote, 8 more than in 2019; the NDA won 24 with 38.14 per cent. The BJP lost 4 seats from 2019 though it again had the highest vote share. The new JLKM won 1 seat with 6.20 per cent. Women voted more than men, at 70.46 per cent (91.16 lakh) against 65 per cent (85.64 lakh), and NOTA took 1.27 per cent (Wikipedia).

Government formation, 2005 to 2013

The Governor invited the Congress-JMM alliance leader after the 2005 result; he was sworn in as Chief Minister on 2 March 2005 and resigned on 11 March without winning a vote of confidence. A BJP-led government followed the next day. In September 2006 four independent legislators withdrew support, and an Independent member then took over with UPA backing, described by Wikipedia as the third Independent Chief Minister in India. The JMM withdrew support in August 2008, and a JMM Chief Minister returned until January 2009. After the 2009 election a JMM-led government held office from December 2009 until the BJP withdrew its support in June 2010. In all, from 2005 to 2013 the state had three spells of President's rule, and the table of Chief Ministers later in this part gives dates.

Lok Sabha elections

Parties are shown by seats won out of 14.

Year	Polling	BJP	INC	JMM	Others	Turnout
2004	Apr-May	1	6	4	RJD 2, CPI 1	55.7%
2009	Apr-May	8	1	2	JVM(P) 1, Independents 2	50.98%
2014	Apr-May	12	0	2	none	63.82%
2019	29 Apr to 19 May	11	1	1	AJSU 1	66.80%
2024	13 May to 1 Jun (4 phases)	8	2	3	AJSU 1	66.77%

Vote shares: in 2004 the BJP had 33.01 per cent, INC 21.44 and JMM 16.28; in 2009 the BJP 27.53 and INC 15.02; in 2019 the BJP 50.96, INC 15.63, JMM 11.51 and AJSU 4.33. The NDA took 12 seats with 55.29 per cent in 2019. In 2024 the NDA won 9 with 47.17 per cent and the INDIA bloc 5 with 39.05 per cent; the Khunti (ST) seat went to the Congress after a sitting Union minister contested it for the BJP (Wikipedia).

By-elections

Our record is incomplete. Wikipedia lists three by-elections after the 2009 election: Kharsawan and Mandu in 2011 (won by the BJP and kept by the JMM) and Hatia in 2012 (the seat moved from the Congress to the AJSU). A Wikipedia list, as returned by a search, gives the following for the 2019 Assembly.

Date	Seat	Cause (reported)	Won by
3 Nov 2020	Dumka	not confirmed	JMM
3 Nov 2020	Bermo	not confirmed	INC
17 Apr 2021	Madhupur	death of the member	JMM
23 Jun 2022	Mandar	disqualification after conviction	INC
27 Feb 2023	Ramgarh	disqualification after conviction	AJSU
5 Sep 2023	Dumri	death of the member	JMM
20 May 2024	Gandey	resignation	JMM

A by-election at Ghatshila on 11 November 2025, after a death in August 2025, was also won by the JMM.

Panchayat elections

2010. Jharkhand held its first panchayat elections after statehood in five phases beginning 27 November 2010, without party symbols (news reports). The previous election in the area had been in 1971, when it was part of Bihar. A 2005 schedule had been cancelled on 2 September 2005 because of an interim High Court order on provisions of the state's Panchayati Raj Act. Women won about 56 per cent of the seats against the 50 per cent reserved for them.

2015. Four-phase polls ran from 22 November to 12 December 2015 for 4,402 mukhiyas, 5,423 panchayat samiti seats and 545 zila parishad seats (a news report; not checked against the State Election Commission).

2022. Polls ran in four phases from 14 May to 29 May 2022 without party symbols. The first phase, on 14 May, covered 1,127 panchayats in 72 blocks of 21 districts, with about 52 lakh voters; 30,221 candidates stood and 6,231 seats were decided without a contest (The Week). The last phase covered 18,920 posts, including 1,299 mukhiyas and 159 zila parishad members (a news report). Because the polls are non-party, we give no party tally. Some reports that mention November and December 2022 appear to describe the 2015 round.

Urban local body elections

Jharkhand has 48 urban local bodies under the Jharkhand Municipal Act, 2011: 9 municipal corporations, 20 municipal councils and 19 nagar panchayats (Wikipedia; one Wikipedia page also counts Jamshedpur as a separate notified area committee, so the count differs by source). Chas, Adityapur, Mango, Hazaribagh, Medininagar and Giridih became corporations between 2015 and 2017. Elections are on a non-party basis. In 2018 the BJP won all five mayoral seats then existing (a news report). Polls in 13 bodies had been pending since 2020 and in Ranchi and others since 2022; we did not confirm the reason. The latest round was on 23 February 2026, with counting on 27 February, across 48 bodies and 1,087 wards, with about 43.3 lakh voters (22.07 lakh men, 21.26 lakh women, 144 third-gender), on ballot papers with no NOTA option. Eight of the nine mayoral results were available to us: BJP-backed candidates won three (Ranchi, Adityapur, Medininagar), JMM-supported candidates two (Giridih, Deoghar), the Congress one (Mango) and Independents two (Hazaribagh, Chas). We did not confirm Dhanbad.

Reservation, delimitation and voters

The Assembly has 28 ST and 9 SC seats, and the Lok Sabha 5 ST and 1 SC seat, under the 2008 Delimitation Commission order based on Census 2001. Under the 84th Amendment, the number of seats in each state is frozen until the first census after 2026, so 81 and 14 are unlikely to change until then. Women's reservation of one-third of seats in Parliament and the Assemblies, passed in 2023, applies only after a fresh delimitation; we have not confirmed dates for Jharkhand. In panchayats, 50 per cent of seats are reserved for women; the detail of ST, SC and Backward Class reservation was not confirmed. We did not confirm elector numbers or the electoral-roll sex ratio for any Assembly election.

Firsts and records

• The 2024 turnout of 68.34 per cent is the highest of the five Assembly elections we tabulated, and 2009 (56.97 per cent) is the lowest.
• In 2019 and 2024, the party with the highest vote share did not win the most seats.
• The 2014 to 2019 government was the first to complete a five-year term, and Wikipedia calls its Chief Minister the first non-tribal Chief Minister of the state.

For exam preparation

• The first Assembly was formed in 2000 from members elected in Bihar and had 82 seats including one nominated.
• Assembly seats in 2005: BJP 30, JMM 17, INC 9; in 2009: BJP 18, JMM 18, INC 14, JVM(P) 11.
• In 2014 the BJP won 37 seats; in 2019 the JMM won 30 and the BJP 25; in 2024 the JMM won 34, the BJP 21 and the INC 16.
• The 2024 election was held on 13 and 20 November; counting was on 24 November; turnout was 68.34 per cent.
• In 2019 the BJP won 11 and the AJSU 1 of 14 Lok Sabha seats; in 2024 the BJP won 8, JMM 3, Congress 2 and AJSU 1.
• Panchayat elections were first held in 2010, then 2015 and May 2022, all without party symbols.
• The latest municipal elections were held on 23 February 2026 and counted on 27 February.

Past Chief Ministers, Governors and office-holders

This section lists only completed tenures, which do not change. Six people have completed tenures as Chief Minister, and the incumbent is the seventh person to hold the office. Seventeen people have completed substantive tenures as Chief Justice (the incumbent is the eighteenth), and eleven have completed tenures as Governor (the incumbent is the twelfth). Lists follow Wikipedia; dates for short and acting spells can differ by a few days between sources.

Chief Ministers

Several Chief Ministers served more than one stint. The incumbent has two completed earlier stints, shown without a name.

Chief Minister	Tenure	Note
Babulal Marandi (BJP)	15 Nov 2000 to 18 Mar 2003	First Chief Minister
Arjun Munda (BJP)	18 Mar 2003 to 2 Mar 2005; 12 Mar 2005 to 18 Sep 2006; 11 Sep 2010 to 18 Jan 2013	Three stints
Shibu Soren (JMM)	2 to 12 Mar 2005; 27 Aug 2008 to 19 Jan 2009; 30 Dec 2009 to 1 Jun 2010	Three stints; the first lasted 10 days
Madhu Koda (Independent)	18 Sep 2006 to 27 Aug 2008	Independent member heading a UPA government
Incumbent (JMM)	13 Jul 2013 to 28 Dec 2014; 29 Dec 2019 to 2 Feb 2024	Completed stints; the present stint began 4 Jul 2024
Raghubar Das (BJP)	28 Dec 2014 to 29 Dec 2019	First to complete a five-year term
Champai Soren (JMM)	2 Feb 2024 to 3 Jul 2024	About five months

Wikipedia puts the incumbent's cumulative service at about 7 years 295 days over three stints, the longest of any holder (our sources do not check this independently).

President's rule

Jharkhand has been under President's rule three times, for a total of 1 year and 258 days (Wikipedia).

Period	Days (reported)
19 Jan 2009 to 30 Dec 2009	345
1 Jun 2010 to 11 Sep 2010	102
18 Jan 2013 to 13 Jul 2013	176

The reasons for the 2009 and 2013 episodes are not given in the sources we opened; the 2010 episode followed the end of the government under the JMM leader.

Governors

No.	Governor	Tenure
1	Prabhat Kumar	15 Nov 2000 to 3 Feb 2002
2	Vinod Chandra Pande (additional charge)	4 Feb to 14 Jul 2002
3	M. Rama Jois	15 Jul 2002 to 11 Jun 2003
4	Ved Marwah	12 Jun 2003 to 9 Dec 2004
5	Syed Sibtey Razi	10 Dec 2004 to 25 Jul 2009
6	K. Sankaranarayanan	26 Jul 2009 to 21 Jan 2010
7	M. O. H. Farook	22 Jan 2010 to 4 Sep 2011
8	Syed Ahmed	4 Sep 2011 to 17 May 2015
9	Name omitted (see note)	18 May 2015 to 13 Jul 2021
10	Ramesh Bais	14 Jul 2021 to 17 Feb 2023
11	Name omitted (see note)	18 Feb 2023 to 30 Jul 2024
12	Incumbent	From 31 Jul 2024

Note: Row 9 was the first woman and the longest-serving Governor of the state (Wikipedia) and has since held a higher national office, so the name is omitted. Row 11 is omitted too, because that person is understood to hold a national office now; we did not verify this here.

Speakers of the Vidhan Sabha

Wikipedia's page, as we could read it, names these past Speakers by years only. We did not confirm exact dates or the order of spells.

Speaker	Years	Party
Inder Singh Namdhari	2000 to 2006 (several spells)	JD(U)
Alamgir Alam	2006 to 2009	INC
Chandreshwar Prasad Singh	2010 to 2013	BJP
Shashank Shekhar Bhokta	2013 to 2014	JMM
Dinesh Oraon	2015 to 2019	BJP

The Speaker who took office on 6 January 2020 continued into the sixth Assembly and is not named here.

Chief Justices of the Jharkhand High Court

Substantive Chief Justices since 2000 with completed tenures, from Wikipedia; acting spells are left out and the incumbent (from 9 January 2026) is not named. The High Court's own site agreed with three spans we checked (11 Sep 2011 to 3 Aug 2013, 1 Nov 2014 to 6 Oct 2016, 20 Feb to 28 Dec 2023); the rest are not cross-checked.

Chief Justice	Tenure
Vinod Kumar Gupta	5 Dec 2000 to 4 Mar 2003
P. K. Balasubramanyan	10 Mar 2003 to 26 Aug 2004
Altamas Kabir	1 Mar 2005 to 8 Sep 2005 (later Chief Justice of India)
N. Dhinakar	4 Dec 2005 to 9 Jun 2006
M. Karpaga Vinayagam	17 Sep 2006 to 15 May 2008
Gyan Sudha Misra	13 Jul 2008 to 30 Apr 2010
Bhagwati Prasad	22 Aug 2010 to 12 May 2011
Prakash Chandra Tatia	11 Sep 2011 to 3 Aug 2013
R. Banumathi	16 Nov 2013 to 12 Aug 2014
Virender Singh	1 Nov 2014 to 6 Oct 2016
Pradip Kumar Mohanty	24 Mar 2017 to 9 Jun 2017
Aniruddha Bose	11 Aug 2018 to 23 May 2019
Ravi Ranjan	17 Nov 2019 to 19 Dec 2022
Sanjaya Kumar Mishra	20 Feb 2023 to 28 Dec 2023
Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi	5 Jul 2024 to 19 Jul 2024
M. S. Ramachandra Rao	25 Sep 2024 to 21 Jul 2025
Tarlok Singh Chauhan	23 Jul 2025 to 8 Jan 2026

The state also had many acting Chief Justices in the gaps, one of whom (June to August 2019) is reported to have died in office.

For exam preparation

• The first Chief Minister of Jharkhand was Babulal Marandi (15 November 2000); the first Governor was Prabhat Kumar.
• Arjun Munda and Shibu Soren each held the office three times.
• The first full five-year term as Chief Minister was completed by Raghubar Das (2014 to 2019).
• President's rule has been imposed three times: 2009, 2010 and 2013.
• The shortest tenure was Shibu Soren's first, 2 to 12 March 2005 (about 10 days).
• An Independent member, Madhu Koda, headed a government from September 2006 to August 2008.
• Altamas Kabir, Chief Justice of the High Court in 2005, later became Chief Justice of India.
• The first Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court was Vinod Kumar Gupta (5 December 2000).

Political history and movements

Jharkhand's politics were shaped by a long movement for a separate state built on tribal identity and land, a coalition-heavy first decade, and a continuing dispute over who counts as a local resident. This section tells what happened without judging parties.

The statehood movement

The idea of a separate Jharkhand region is older than independence. In 1928 the Chotanagpur Unnati Samaj sent a memorandum to the Simon Commission asking for a separate province, and an Adivasi Mahasabha was in place by about 1939 (Wikipedia). The Jharkhand Party, formed around 1949 to 1950, sought statehood by constitutional means and won 32 seats in the 1952 Bihar Assembly election; it merged with the Congress in 1963. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was founded on 2 February 1972 by Shibu Soren, Binod Bihari Mahato and A. K. Roy, drawing together tribal, mining-area and working-class groups; its symbol is the bow and arrow. The All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) was founded on 22 June 1986 in Jamshedpur. The Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council was created in 1995, and the Bihar Assembly passed a resolution in 1997 in support of separation (Wikipedia; single-sourced).

The Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 passed the Lok Sabha on 2 August and the Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2000, and received the President's assent on 25 August. The state came into being on 15 November 2000, the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, the tribal leader who led a revolt against British rule at the end of the 19th century.

Coalitions and short tenures, 2005 to 2014

No party won a majority in 2005 or 2009, and the state had nine changes of Chief Minister from 2000 to 2014 counting returns, with three spells of President's rule, as the tables above show (our count from the Wikipedia list). The 2014 election broke the pattern, and the 2019 and 2024 elections gave the JMM-led alliance office.

The domicile question

Who is a "local" of Jharkhand, entitled to preference in state jobs, has been a flashpoint since the state began. In September 2001 the first government adopted a domicile policy based on the last land survey in each district. In July 2002 riots broke out in Ranchi, and at least five people are reported to have died in the agitation. In November 2002 the High Court held the policy unconstitutional and struck it down. A later BJP-led government framed a policy in 2016 with 1985 as the cut-off year; we did not confirm its present legal status.

The 1932 khatiyan bill. On 11 November 2022 the Assembly passed two bills in a special session. One defined a "local person" as someone whose name, or whose ancestors' names, appear in the 1932 land survey or earlier records, with village councils verifying people who have no records, and gave locals preference in class 3 and class 4 posts. The government planned to place the Act in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which would shield it from judicial review. In January 2023 the Governor of the day returned the bill for a review of its legality in light of the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings (reported). On 20 December 2023 the Assembly passed the bill again without the changes the Governor had suggested (reported by Drishti IAS).

The 77 per cent reservation bill. The second bill raised the quota in state posts from 60 per cent to 77 per cent: ST from 26 to 28 per cent, SC from 10 to 12 per cent and OBC from 14 to 27 per cent, with the 10 per cent EWS quota on top (28 + 12 + 27 + 10 = 77). The Governor sent it to the Attorney General for an opinion (reported). As of the latest reports we found, from October 2024, both bills awaited the Centre's decision on the Ninth Schedule. We found no report of a final outcome for either bill or of a court ruling on them, so we state none.

Tenancy law and the Pathalgadi movement

The Raghubar Das government tried to amend the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act around 2016 to 2017, and tribal groups protested. The Governor of the time returned the amendments in May 2017 after receiving 192 memoranda against them (Wikipedia, 4th Assembly page). The 2017 Freedom of Religion Bill and amendments to the land acquisition law were other contested measures of that Assembly.

Regional parties

The JMM is the largest regional party and has led governments in 2005, 2008 to 2009, 2009 to 2010, 2013 to 2014, 2019 to 2024 and since 2024. The AJSU has been an ally of the BJP in several elections but fought separately in 2019. The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) won 11 seats in 2009 and 8 in 2014 and lost six legislators to the BJP in 2015; we did not confirm its later fate. We have not verified current Left-wing extremism figures for this guide; check the Ministry of Home Affairs for the latest list of affected districts.

For exam preparation

• The JMM was founded on 2 February 1972; the AJSU on 22 June 1986 at Jamshedpur.
• The Jharkhand Party won 32 seats in the 1952 Bihar elections and merged with the Congress in 1963.
• The Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council was created in 1995.
• The Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 got assent on 25 August 2000; the state was formed on 15 November 2000, Birsa Munda's birth anniversary.
• A domicile policy based on the last district land survey was struck down by the High Court in November 2002.
• The Assembly passed the 1932 khatiyan bill and the 77 per cent reservation bill on 11 November 2022; the domicile bill was passed again on 20 December 2023.
• The 77 per cent figure is ST 28, SC 12, OBC 27, EWS 10.

Budget and governance

The latest budget is for 2026-27, presented on 24 February 2026 (PRS Legislative Research, opened for this guide). The figures below are as on October 2026 and are budget estimates; check the state's finance department for revisions.

Item	2026-27 (Budget Estimate)
GSDP (projected, current prices)	Rs 6,24,868 crore, growth of 10 per cent
Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment)	Rs 1,50,106 crore
Receipts (excluding borrowings)	Rs 1,36,510 crore
Own tax revenue	Rs 45,999 crore, 7.4 per cent of GSDP (reported)
Revenue surplus	Rs 15,358 crore, 2.5 per cent of GSDP
Fiscal deficit	Rs 13,596 crore, 2.2 per cent of GSDP

Expenditure minus receipts equals the fiscal deficit (Rs 13,596 crore), which is a consistency check on the pair. Headline sector allocations are social welfare and nutrition Rs 24,900 crore, rural development Rs 19,687 crore, education, sports, arts and culture Rs 19,320 crore and transport Rs 6,994 crore (the last from a single reading). The social welfare allocation includes the Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana, which pays eligible women Rs 2,500 a month (reported). The budget also announced a Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University and the upgrading of polytechnics into technology institutes modelled on the IITs and NITs (reported). The minister who presented the budget is not named here, in line with our policy on office-holders.

Different readings of the PRS page gave different expenditure and receipts figures; we used the pair that agrees with the deficit. We also left out per capita GSDP and the outstanding-liabilities ratio, which we could not confirm. For governance, we could not verify the launch dates or coverage of the state's e-governance portals, grievance systems or service-guarantee laws, so we describe none; check the state portal. Local bodies run under the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act and the Jharkhand Municipal Act, 2011.

For exam preparation

• The 2026-27 budget was presented on 24 February 2026; GSDP is projected at Rs 6,24,868 crore.
• The state budgeted a revenue surplus of 2.5 per cent and a fiscal deficit of 2.2 per cent of GSDP (budget estimates).
• Total expenditure excluding debt repayment is Rs 1,50,106 crore.
• Social welfare and nutrition has the largest sector allocation at Rs 24,900 crore, followed by rural development at Rs 19,687 crore.
• The Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana pays Rs 2,500 a month to eligible women (reported).

Economy

Jharkhand is a mineral-rich state with a relatively small, low-income population economy: it sits on some of India's largest coal and iron-ore deposits and hosts steel, power and heavy-engineering centres, yet its per-person income is among the lowest in the country and a large share of households are classed as multidimensionally poor. This section gives the size of the economy, growth, sector mix, public finances and poverty, with the source and year for each figure. Budget numbers change every February-March, so treat the figures below as "as on October 2026" and check the latest budget for newer ones.

Size and growth

The PRS Legislative Research analysis of the Jharkhand Budget 2025-26 puts the state's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP, the total value of goods and services produced in the state in a year) at about ₹5,56,286 crore at current prices for 2025-26, with a projected growth of 10% over 2024-25. "Current prices" means without adjusting for inflation. The same analysis reports per capita GSDP (GSDP divided by population) of ₹1,15,960 in 2023-24, up 9.1% on the year before.

The state's own Economic Survey 2024-25 reports a different, survey-based set of numbers. It says GSDP grew at an average of 7.7% a year over the three years 2021-22 to 2023-24, and it projected 6.7% for 2024-25 and 7.5% for 2025-26. It estimated per capita income at ₹68,612 at constant prices and ₹1,14,271 at current prices for 2024-25, and said Jharkhand ranked 26th among 28 states in per capita income in 2022-23, ahead of only Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The Survey, as reported in the press, also puts the state's share in national GDP at about 1.64% in 2023-24, up from 1.59% in 2019-20. The two sources use different bases and year labels, so the per capita figures should not be mixed in one comparison.

Indicator	Figure	Source and year
GSDP at current prices	about ₹5,56,286 crore (projected)	PRS, Budget 2025-26
Per capita GSDP	₹1,15,960 (2023-24)	PRS, Budget 2025-26
Average GSDP growth	7.7% a year, 2021-22 to 2023-24	Jharkhand Economic Survey 2024-25 (press report)
Per capita income rank	26th of 28 states (2022-23)	Economic Survey 2024-25 (press report)
Share in national GDP	about 1.64% (2023-24)	Economic Survey 2024-25 (press report)

Sector mix

PRS reports the 2023-24 structure of the economy at current prices as agriculture 23%, manufacturing 33% and services 44%. The state Economic Survey says the tertiary (services) sector has been the largest contributor for five years running. The industry share is high for an eastern state because mining and metal-making count heavily in it, while a large number of people still depend on farming, forest produce and wage labour. We did not confirm a reliable, recent figure for the share of the workforce in each sector, so none is quoted here.

Public finances

For 2025-26 PRS records the following headline numbers:

• Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment) of ₹1,36,653 crore, about 12% above the revised estimate for 2024-25.
• Total receipts (excluding borrowings) of ₹1,25,400 crore, about 13% higher.
• Debt repayment of ₹8,747 crore.
• A fiscal deficit target of 2% of GSDP (₹11,253 crore) and a revenue surplus of 2.6% of GSDP (₹14,517 crore).

The fiscal deficit is the gap between total spending and total non-borrowing income; a revenue surplus means day-to-day income exceeds day-to-day spending. The state has been able to keep within the 3% of GSDP ceiling set under its Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) law, which is the rule that caps borrowing and deficits, in the plan figures PRS reported. The Budget 2026-27 was not opened for this guide; check the budget section of this page and /current-affairs for the latest numbers.

State revenue draws on three streams: its own taxes (including mining-linked revenue such as royalty), its share in central taxes recommended by the Finance Commission, and grants from the Centre. We did not confirm the exact split between them for the latest year.

Poverty and living standards

NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), built from the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5, 2019-21), counts people who are deprived in health, education and living standards together, not just in income. It found 42.16% of Jharkhand's population multidimensionally poor, the second highest among states after Bihar. Child nutrition is a large part of this: NFHS-5 reports 40% of children under five stunted (down from 45% in NFHS-4), with the highest burden in Palamu, West Singhbhum and Sahibganj districts.

About three-quarters of the people live in rural areas (Census 2011) and farming is largely rain-fed, which helps explain low per capita income beside heavy mining and metal output.

For exam preparation

• GSDP for 2025-26 is about ₹5,56,286 crore at current prices (PRS, Budget 2025-26).
• The Economic Survey 2024-25 records average GSDP growth of 7.7% a year over 2021-22 to 2023-24.
• Services are the largest sector of the economy; PRS gives 2023-24 shares of agriculture 23%, manufacturing 33% and services 44%.
• NITI Aayog's MPI (NFHS-5, 2019-21) puts multidimensional poverty at 42.16%, second highest after Bihar.
• Stunting among children under five fell from 45% (NFHS-4) to 40% (NFHS-5).
• The 2025-26 budget targets a fiscal deficit of 2% of GSDP and a revenue surplus of 2.6%.

Agriculture, forests, minerals, industry and energy

Jharkhand's land supports a plateau farming economy, large forests and one of India's richest mineral belts. The Chota Nagpur Plateau and the Santhal Parganas hold coal, iron ore, copper, mica, bauxite and uranium, and the iron-and-coal pairing grew into steel towns in the twentieth century. Farming remains rain-fed and low-yielding, while forests cover close to a third of the state.

Agriculture

Agriculture is mainly rain-fed and depends on the south-west monsoon. A figure reported in a government-linked source says only about 15% of the cropped area has assured irrigation, against about 49% nationally; an older source puts the net irrigated area at about 8% of the net sown area. These are different definitions and years, so read them as "far below the national level" and not as one precise number. The net sown area is reported at about 18 lakh hectares (about 1.8 million hectares), a small part of the geographical area because so much of the state is forest, hill and mining land.

Rice is the main crop; pulses, oilseeds, maize and vegetables are also grown. Productivity of rice and total foodgrains is lower than the national average. PRS notes ₹255 crore in the 2025-26 budget for the Mukhyamantri Pashudhan Vikas Yojana (animal husbandry).

Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke (Ranchi), established on 26 June 1981, is the state agricultural university.

Forests

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2023, as reproduced on the state forest department's site, reports a total forest cover of 23,765.78 sq km, which is 29.81% of the state's area (79,716 sq km). By density this is:

Class	Area (sq km)	Share of state area
Very dense forest	2,635.35	3.31%
Moderately dense forest	9,640.99	12.09%
Open forest	11,489.44	14.41%
Scrub	558.32	0.70%

Jharkhand was among the top five states in the increase of forest cover in that assessment, with a rise of 110 sq km. The recorded forest area is Reserved Forest (18.58%), Protected Forest (81.28%) and Unclassed Forest (0.14%). Sal is the signature tree and is also sacred in tribal religion (see the culture section).

Protected areas: Betla National Park (226.32 sq km) is described as the only national park in the state; it is part of the Palamau Tiger Reserve (1,129.93 sq km), which was created under Project Tiger in 1974, while the park was declared in 1986. Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary near Jamshedpur is known for elephants. We did not open a source for the complete list of sanctuaries or elephant reserves.

Minerals

The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) state review describes Jharkhand as one of the major mineral-producing states, a leading producer of coal, gold, graphite, bauxite, iron ore and limestone, and the only producer of flint stone in the country. Its share of national resources, as given there, includes about 31% of rock phosphate, 23% of iron ore (haematite), 30% of apatite, 14% of andalusite, 20% of cobalt ore, 20% of copper ore, 9% each of granite (dimension stone) and graphite, and 5% of silver ore. Websites often say the state holds "about 40% of India's minerals"; we found no official source, so we do not state it.

Coal. Coal is the principal mineral produced. The Coal Directory of India 2022-23 (reproduced in the IBM review) lists coal resources of 87,838 million tonnes as on 1 April 2023 across twelve coalfields. The largest are North Karanpura (19,812 Mt), Jharia (19,533 Mt) and Rajmahal (18,852 Mt), followed by South Karanpura, East Bokaro and West Bokaro. Coal production was about 130 million tonnes in 2021-22 (IBM). We did not confirm the state's percentage share of the national coal total from an official source, so no share is quoted.

The Jharia coalfield in Dhanbad district is India's best-known source of coking coal, the grade used in blast furnaces to make steel, and is spread over roughly 280 sq km in the Damodar valley. A coal-seam fire reported from 1916 at Bhowrah colliery has never been fully put out, and fires and land subsidence have put the safety of several hundred thousand residents at risk; relocation efforts have had limited success according to reference accounts.

Iron ore. Iron ore comes mainly from West Singhbhum (haematite) and also from magnetite occurrences in districts such as Gumla, Hazaribagh, Latehar and Palamu. The IBM table shows production of about 24.7 million tonnes in 2021-22.

Copper, uranium, mica and others. Copper occurs in East Singhbhum and Hazaribagh; Hindustan Copper operates at Ghatsila in East Singhbhum (the IBM review lists its refined-copper and smelting capacity). Uranium ore is mined and processed by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) through six underground mines, one open-cast mine and two processing plants in the state, supplying fuel to India's nuclear reactors. Mica occurs in Giridih and Koderma districts, part of the old "Bihar mica belt". Bauxite is found in Gumla, Lohardaga, Latehar, Palamau and Dumka districts, with production of about 1.8 million tonnes in 2021-22. We did not confirm a national ranking for mica or uranium output, so none is claimed.

Industry

• Jamshedpur. The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), set up on 26 August 1907, was founded by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata and developed by his son Sir Dorabji Tata. Pig-iron production began in 1911 and steel in 1912. By 1939 it operated the largest steel plant in the British Empire (Wikipedia, cross-checked only for the year). The company was renamed Tata Steel Limited in 2005. Jamshedpur is the state's largest city (Wikipedia).
• Bokaro. Bokaro Steel Plant, part of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), was incorporated in 1964 with Soviet assistance and began operating in 1972. It is India's fourth integrated public-sector steel plant and covers about 50 sq km, the largest area of any Indian steel plant. Reported output is about 5.8 million tonnes of liquid steel a year.
• Dhanbad. The coal centre of the state, and home to the Indian School of Mines (now IIT-ISM).

Energy

The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is the anchor of eastern India's early power system. It was established on 7 July 1948 as the first multipurpose river-valley project of independent India, modelled on the Tennessee Valley Authority of the United States. It built four dams on the Damodar and its tributaries: Tilaiya (1953, on the Barakar), Konar (1955, on the Konar), Maithon (1957, on the Barakar) and Panchet (1959, on the Damodar). They serve flood control, irrigation, water supply and hydropower. DVC's headquarters is in Kolkata and its command area is about 24,235 sq km across Jharkhand and West Bengal; its installed capacity is reported at about 6,897 MW, mostly thermal.

Coal-fired plants in the state include DVC's Bokaro 'B' (630 MW) and Chandrapura (390 MW plus a 500 MW extension), the Tenughat and Patratu stations, the Koderma station, and the Maithon Right Bank plant, a joint venture of DVC and Tata Power (first unit 525 MW). The Adani Power plant at Godda is a 1,600 MW (2 x 800 MW) coal station. Capacity figures change as units are commissioned, so quote them with a year.

For exam preparation

• Jharkhand's forest cover is 23,765.78 sq km, or 29.81% of the state (ISFR 2023).
• Betla is described as the state's only national park (226.32 sq km); the Palamau Tiger Reserve covers 1,129.93 sq km.
• Coal resources: 87,838 million tonnes as on 1 April 2023; the biggest fields are North Karanpura, Jharia and Rajmahal.
• Jharia is the main coking-coal field and has burned since 1916.
• Tata Steel (TISCO) was set up in 1907 at Jamshedpur; Bokaro Steel Plant began operation in 1972 with Soviet help.
• DVC was established on 7 July 1948; its four dams are Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Panchet.
• UCIL mines uranium in the state; Hindustan Copper works at Ghatsila.

Transport and infrastructure

Jharkhand is a landlocked state whose mineral economy was built on railways, and its roads and airports have expanded mainly since 2000. Rail is the backbone for coal and steel; highways link the hill and forest districts; and air service has grown at Ranchi and, since 2022, at Deoghar.

Railways

Railway stations in the state are divided between the South Eastern Railway (SER) and the East Central Railway (ECR). In SER, the Ranchi division (headquarters Ranchi, formed on 1 April 2003) and the Chakradharpur division (headquarters Chakradharpur in West Singhbhum, formed on 14 April 1952) cover much of the state; the Adra division, with headquarters in West Bengal, also reaches some Jharkhand stations. Several stations in Dhanbad district, such as Barkakana, are listed under the East Central Railway; the Dhanbad railway division of ECR is a major coal-freight division (we did not open a page for it, so treat the details as general knowledge). Tatanagar is the main station for Jamshedpur. Jasidih Junction, on the Howrah-Delhi main line, is about 7 km from Deoghar and handles Baidyanath Dham pilgrims; it also has Vande Bharat service according to a reference source. We did not verify the state's total route length, the busiest-station ranking or electrification percentage.

Roads

The total length of National Highways in Jharkhand is reported at about 3,500 km in a Ministry of Road Transport and Highways summary (the table was accessed through a search snippet, as on 2024-25), with 846 km of projects ongoing and 371 km awarded, and a construction target of 232 km in 2024-25. NH 18 runs from Ranchi towards Jamshedpur and passes near Dassam Falls. We did not confirm the state road network totals (state highways, district roads) or the number of NHs.

Airports

• Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi. Started by the British in 1941 for Royal Air Force use; about 546 acres were converted to a civil aerodrome after independence (1949, per the reference account). It is about 5 km from the city centre at Hinoo and run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). An integrated passenger terminal was inaugurated on 24 March 2013. The airport serves domestic flights only (an international upgrade has been planned), and it is reported as about the 29th busiest in India, with over 2.7 million passengers a year (year not confirmed).
• Deoghar Airport. Inaugurated on 12 July 2022; owned jointly by the AAI (51%) and the state government (49%), about 12 km from the city centre, with a 2,500 m runway. IndiGo began UDAN regional flights on 12 June 2022 on the Deoghar-Kolkata route and later added Bengaluru, Delhi, Guwahati, Mumbai and Patna; night operations began on 16 April 2025 (reference account).
• Jamshedpur (Sonari) has an airstrip; the account we opened lists it as a major airport but we did not confirm scheduled service. Dhanbad and Bokaro airstrips are not covered here.

Jharkhand has no sea coast and no major port; coal and steel leave by rail to ports in West Bengal and Odisha (general knowledge). A metro system was not confirmed and none is claimed.

Power and water

Power generation is described in the energy part of the previous section. The state's rivers are mostly rain-fed and seasonal, and storage on the Damodar system (Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon, Panchet) and the Subarnarekha project is the main source of irrigation and urban water. We did not verify the state's electrification or per-unit consumption.

For exam preparation

• The state is served by South Eastern Railway (Ranchi and Chakradharpur divisions) and East Central Railway.
• The Ranchi railway division was formed on 1 April 2003; Chakradharpur division in 1952.
• Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi, began as a British RAF airfield in 1941.
• Deoghar Airport was inaugurated on 12 July 2022 and is owned 51% by AAI and 49% by the state.
• National Highways in the state total about 3,500 km (MoRTH summary, 2024-25).

Culture, tribes and heritage

Jharkhand's culture is largely tribal and forest-based. The Munda, Santal, Oraon and Ho communities and eight Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups live alongside Sadan (non-tribal, long-settled Indo-Aryan speaking) communities, and the festivals, songs and wall paintings follow the farming year and the sacred groves. Scheduled Tribes made up 26.21% of the population in Census 2011 (8,646,189 people), among the highest shares in the country, with the highest concentration in the south-west, where Simdega has about 78% ST population.

Languages and literature

Hindi is the official language. Census 2011 mother-tongue figures reported for the state are Khortha 23.5%, Hindi 21.4%, Bengali 9.74%, Santali 8.77% and Nagpuri 7.23%. Several others are recognised as additional official languages (one source says sixteen; we did not confirm the complete list from a state notification). The main language families are:

• Indo-Aryan: Khortha, Nagpuri (Sadri), Kurmali, Panchpargania, Bhojpuri, Maithili and Angika in different regions.
• Austroasiatic: Santali, Mundari and Ho (Ho in the Kolhan area).
• Dravidian: Kurukh (Oraon) and a few small tongues.

Regional-language cinema exists in Nagpuri, Khortha and Santali; a reference source calls Aakarant (1988) the first Jharkhand feature film, a single-source claim we list as reported.

Tribes

The state's Scheduled Tribes are commonly counted as 32 (Census 2011 sources cite 32 or 33 depending on how sub-groups are treated). The largest are listed below; we did not open the Census 2011 tribe-wise population table, so no tribe-wise numbers are given.

Tribe	Where mainly found	Notes
Santal (Santhal)	Santhal Parganas (Dumka, Pakur, Godda and neighbouring districts), also Singhbhum	Led the 1855 Hul uprising; speak Santali; Baha is their spring festival
Munda	Ranchi, Khunti, Simdega and Gumla areas	Speak Mundari; Birsa Munda was a Munda; Sarhul is called Baa Parab
Oraon (Kurukh)	Ranchi, Lohardaga, Gumla and Simdega	Speak Kurukh (Dravidian); Sarhul is called Khaddi; Karma is important
Ho	West Singhbhum (Kolhan), Seraikela-Kharsawan	Speak Ho; known for the Kolhan area
Kharia, Bhumij, Gond, Baiga, Khond, Lohra	Southern and western districts	Smaller groups listed among major tribes

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are the most marginal communities, with falling or very low populations and low literacy. The eight in Jharkhand are the Asur, Birhor, Birjia, Hill Kharia, Korwa, Mal Paharia, Parhaiya and Sauria Paharia (Census-linked listing; some lists give Savar instead of or as well as one of these, which we did not resolve). Most live in forested hills and depend on forest produce and, in some cases, shifting farming and rope or leaf work.

Religion matters here. Census 2011 shows Hindus 67.8%, Muslims 14.5%, Sarna followers 12.5% and Christians 4.3%. Sarna is the nature-religion of many tribes, centred on the sarna sacred grove with sal trees where the village priest (Pahan) offers worship. Many tribal groups have campaigned for a separate "Sarna code" in the Census; this is a political demand and we do not give a view on it.

Festivals

Festival	When and by whom	What happens
Sarhul	Spring, from the third day of the bright half of Chaitra to Chaitra Purnima; Munda, Oraon, Ho and others	Worship of the sal tree and ancestors at the sacred grove; village priest offers flowers, fruit and vermilion; marks the new year. Called Baa Parab (Munda), Khaddi (Oraon), Baha (Santal)
Karma (Karam)	Around the monsoon-end harvest (Bhadrapada, general knowledge); Oraon, Munda and many Sadan communities	Branch of the Karam tree planted and worshipped for good crops and the well-being of siblings; dancing through the night
Sohrai	After Diwali, in autumn	Cattle and harvest festival; walls are painted (see below)
Chhath Puja	October-November	Worship of the Sun god and Chhathi Maiya on river banks
Shravani Mela	Sawan (July-August), Deoghar	Month-long pilgrimage to Baidyanath temple
Hul Diwas	30 June	Commemorates the 1855 Santal uprising
Phaguwa	Spring	Holi-time festival with sal-flower traditions
Janjatiya Gaurav Divas	15 November	Birsa Munda's birth anniversary; Jharkhand's foundation day falls on the same date

Folk dance, music and theatre

• Chhau (Seraikela style). Chhau is a semi-classical dance with martial, folk and acrobatic movements from eastern India. It has three regional styles: Purulia (West Bengal), Seraikela (Jharkhand) and Mayurbhanj (Odisha). The Seraikela style uses symbolic masks and developed under royal patronage; it is performed traditionally by all-male troupes, most famously at the spring Chaitra Parva festival, to the sound of drums, the shehnai and reed pipes, with themes drawn from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas. UNESCO inscribed Chhau on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.
• Jhumair and Domkach. These are major folk dance traditions of the plateau. They are sung and danced in lines and circles, in groups, often at harvest and weddings.
• Instruments. Drums such as the dhol, mandar and nagara, plus flutes and reed pipes, accompany most dances. (We did not open a source for the list of instruments beyond Chhau.)

Painting, craft and GI tags

Sohrai and Khovar painting from Hazaribagh received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2020. Women, usually mothers teaching daughters, paint the walls of mud houses. Sohrai paintings are made after Diwali for the harvest and cattle festival, while Khovar paintings decorate the bridal chamber for marriage. The wall is first coated with a soil-and-dung mixture, then white clay is applied and designs are drawn with fingers or sticks. Motifs include animals such as buffalo, cows, tigers and wild pigs, plus hens and chicks in Sohrai, and bamboo, elephants, turtles, peacocks and lotuses in Khovar. Red lines are said to stand for ancestral blood, black for death or Shiva, and white for food and harvest (a symbolic reading from one reference).

Godna (traditional tattooing) remains culturally significant among tribal women. Other known crafts are bamboo and cane work, stone carving, tasar silk weaving and lac bangles; we did not confirm GI status for these, so only Sohrai-Khovar is stated.

Cuisine

The staple is rice with dal and vegetables. Traditional dishes include dhuska (a deep-fried rice-and-lentil bread), chilka roti (a rice-flour pancake), malpua (a sweet fried pancake) and local brews such as handia (rice beer) and mahua drink from the mahua flower. Foraged foods such as mushrooms and greens (rugra, saag) are seasonal.

Faith and heritage

Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar and Parasnath Hill (Shikharji) for Jains are the main pilgrim sites; see the next section. The Santal reverence for Parasnath as Marang Buru shows that the same hill carries both Jain and tribal significance, and this has led to a dispute over access and rituals, which a reference source notes without resolving.

For exam preparation

• Scheduled Tribes are 26.21% of the population (Census 2011); Simdega has about 78%.
• Khortha is the most widely spoken mother tongue (23.5%), followed by Hindi, Bengali, Santali and Nagpuri.
• Eight PVTGs live in the state, among them Asur, Birhor, Korwa, Mal Paharia and Sauria Paharia.
• Sarhul is the spring festival of sal worship; Karma and Sohrai are other major festivals.
• Seraikela Chhau uses masks; Chhau was inscribed on UNESCO's ICH list in 2010.
• Sohrai-Khovar painting from Hazaribagh got its GI tag in 2020.
• Hul Diwas is 30 June (1855 Santal uprising).

Tourism and places of interest

Jharkhand tourism combines pilgrimage, plateau waterfalls, hill stations and forests. Pilgrims form the largest group, mainly at Baidyanath Dham and Parasnath, while visitors from the cities come for the waterfalls near Ranchi, the Palamau forests and Netarhat. We did not confirm any UNESCO World Heritage site or Ramsar site in the state; Chhau is the only UNESCO listing relevant to Jharkhand (a shared intangible-heritage listing).

Place	District	What it is
Baidyanath Dham	Deoghar	Shiva temple complex with a central shrine and 21 other temples; traditionally counted among the twelve Jyotirlingas
Parasnath Hill (Shikharji)	Giridih	State's highest point, 1,365 m; Jain pilgrimage site
Betla National Park	Latehar / Palamu	226.32 sq km; part of Palamau Tiger Reserve
Hundru Falls	Ranchi	98 m fall of the Subarnarekha
Dassam Falls	Ranchi (Bundu)	44 m, two-cascade fall on the Kanchi river
Netarhat	Latehar	Hill station at 1,128 m; sunrise and sunset points
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary	near Jamshedpur	Forest sanctuary known for elephants
Jamshedpur	East Singhbhum	Planned steel city founded by Tata Steel

Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar. The temple is described as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva; other places also claim the same status in tradition, and we do not rule between them. By the legend, the lingam was placed here when Vishnu, in the form of a shepherd, stopped Ravana from carrying it away. Millions come during the month of Shravan; pilgrims (kanwariyas) collect Ganga water at Sultanganj (at the Ajgaibinath temple, in Bihar) and carry it on foot to offer at Baidyanath, and many then continue to Basukinath. Deoghar is 7 km from Jasidih Junction and 9 to 12 km from the airport (sources differ on that distance). AIIMS Deoghar is also in the town.

Parasnath Hill. Parasnath rises to 1,365 m in Giridih district. It is named after Parshvanatha, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara; Jain tradition holds that twenty of the twenty-four Tirthankaras attained moksha (liberation) here. The summit has a cluster of marble temples (the pilgrimage is called Shikharji), including the Jal Mandir. The Santal people call the hill Marang Buru and regard it as sacred to their own tradition; this overlap has caused disputes over access and practice. The hills also host some endemic species of land snail (reference account).

Betla and the Palamau Tiger Reserve. Betla, 170 km from Ranchi, was made a national park in 1986 and was part of the reserve declared under Project Tiger in 1974. Tigers, leopards, elephants, gaur and several deer species live here, with hornbills and other birds. Visitors use jeep safaris and watchtowers. The name is read as a mnemonic for Bison, Elephant, Tiger, Leopard and Axis deer (a popular reading, not an official etymology).

Waterfalls near Ranchi. Hundru Falls (98 m, Subarnarekha river, about 39 km from Ranchi by the shorter route) is listed as the 34th highest in India (one source). Dassam Falls (44 m, Kanchi river, a tributary of the Subarnarekha) is about 40 km from Ranchi on NH 18.

Netarhat. Called the "Queen of Chotanagpur", the town sits at 1,128 m about 156 km west of Ranchi and is known for sunrise and sunset viewpoints (Magnolia Point is about 10 km away). It is also home to Netarhat Vidyalaya, a residential school established in 1954.

For other sites we did not open sources and so do not list them: the Palamau forts, the Maithon dam, Rajrappa, Tagore Hill and Jagannath Temple (Ranchi) are commonly named in guides but are left for a later verified update.

For exam preparation

• Parasnath (1,365 m) is the highest point in the state; it is a Jain pilgrimage hill known as Shikharji.
• Betla was declared a national park in 1986; the tiger reserve dates from 1974.
• Hundru Falls (98 m) is on the Subarnarekha; Dassam Falls (44 m) is on the Kanchi.
• The Shravani Mela at Baidyanath Dham is held in the month of Shravan.
• Netarhat is called the Queen of Chotanagpur.

Education, health, sports and personalities

Jharkhand has a few nationally ranked technical and management institutes, mostly in Dhanbad, Ranchi and Jamshedpur, and a young medical-college network anchored by AIIMS Deoghar. Literacy has risen but still lags the national level, especially among women in tribal districts. Health indicators are improving but nutrition remains a major challenge.

Higher education

Institution	Place	Key facts
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad	Dhanbad	Began as the Indian School of Mines on 9 December 1926; became an IIT on 10 August 2016
IIM Ranchi	Ranchi	Established 15 December 2009; moved to its permanent campus (Pundag-Nayasarai) in 2021; an Institute of National Importance
BIT Mesra	Ranchi	Founded in 1955 by B. M. Birla; deemed university from 1986
NIT Jamshedpur	Jamshedpur	Set up on 15 August 1960 as Regional Institute of Technology; became an NIT on 27 December 2002
AIIMS Deoghar	Deoghar	Established 17 September 2019 under PMSSY; first batch of 50 MBBS students; outpatient service from August 2021
Birsa Agricultural University	Kanke, Ranchi	Founded 26 June 1981; Governor is Chancellor

IIT (ISM) is described as the third institution after IIT Roorkee and IIT (BHU) Varanasi to be converted into an IIT; about 445 acres of campus are cited. Other well-known institutions we did not open sources for, and so list only by name, include Ranchi University, Vinoba Bhave University, Sido Kanhu Murmu University, XLRI Jamshedpur and the Central University of Jharkhand.

Schools and literacy

Census 2011 recorded a literacy rate of 66.41%, with 76.84% for males and 53.56% for females. The state Wikipedia page quotes 73.40% (2017) and 76.7% (2024), from sources we did not open; use the census figure for a fixed reference and check the latest survey for newer ones. Literacy varies sharply by district: Ranchi is highest at 83.13% and Pakur lowest at 50.17% (reference account). Netarhat Vidyalaya (1954) is the best-known state residential school.

Health

NFHS-5 (2019-21) reports an infant mortality rate of 38 per 1,000 live births, down from 44 in NFHS-4; stunting among children under five at 40%, down from 45%; and about 96% of deliveries in institutions, with 73.9% in public facilities. The sex ratio at birth for children born in the five years before the survey was 899 females per 1,000 males, down from 919, while the overall sex ratio was 1,050 per 1,000. Census 2011 gave 947 females per 1,000 males. These two figures are not comparable, since NFHS is a sample survey and the census is a count.

Sports

Jharkhand has a deeper sports tradition than its size suggests, centred on hockey, archery and cricket.

• Hockey. Jaipal Singh Munda (1903-1970), a Munda from this region, captained India's hockey team at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, which won gold; he later became a Constituent Assembly member and tribal rights leader. Ranchi's Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astroturf Hockey Stadium is named after him ("Marang Gomke" means "great leader"). It hosted the Women's Asian Champions Trophy from 27 October to 5 November 2023, which India won by beating Japan 4-0 in the final, and the FIH Olympic Qualifiers for women from 13 to 19 January 2024. A hockey stadium also bears Birsa Munda's name.
• Cricket. The JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi has a capacity of about 40,000. Its first international match was an ODI between India and England on 19 January 2013, its first T20I was India v Sri Lanka on 12 February 2016, and its first Test was India v Australia on 16-20 March 2017. It is the home ground of the Jharkhand cricket team. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, born in Ranchi, captained India to the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup (general knowledge; not opened in this session).
• Archery. Deepika Kumari, born on 13 June 1994 at Ratu Chatti near Ranchi, became world number one in recurve archery in 2012, won the Arjuna Award (2012) and the Padma Shri (2016), and has competed at four Olympics (2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024).

Notable people

Person	Known for
Birsa Munda (1875-1900)	Munda leader of the Ulgulan revolt (1899-1900); founded the Birsait faith; died in Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900; the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 followed
Sido and Kanhu Murmu	Leaders, with brothers Chand and Bhairav and sisters Phulo and Jhano, of the Santhal Hul (30 June 1855 to January 1856)
Jaipal Singh Munda (1903-1970)	1928 Olympic hockey captain; founded the Adivasi Mahasabha in 1939; Constituent Assembly member
Jamsetji Tata (1839-1904)	Founder of the Tata group's steel venture whose plant created Jamshedpur (general knowledge on dates)
Deepika Kumari	Archer, world no. 1 in 2012
M. S. Dhoni	Cricketer from Ranchi

Birsa Munda's birth anniversary on 15 November is observed nationally as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas. Birsa Munda Airport, Birsa Agricultural University and a hockey stadium carry his name. The Santhal Hul led to the creation of the Santal Parganas district in 1855 and to the Santhal Parganas Tenancy Act of 1876. Honours: we did not compile a list of state-linked Padma or Arjuna awardees.

For exam preparation

• IIT (ISM) Dhanbad was founded as the Indian School of Mines in 1926 and became an IIT in 2016.
• IIM Ranchi was established in December 2009; BIT Mesra in 1955; AIIMS Deoghar in 2019.
• Census 2011 literacy is 66.41% (male 76.84%, female 53.56%).
• NFHS-5 infant mortality is 38 per 1,000 live births.
• Jaipal Singh Munda captained the 1928 Olympic gold-medal hockey team.
• The JSCA stadium in Ranchi hosted its first Test on 16-20 March 2017 (India v Australia).
• Deepika Kumari is from Ratu Chatti near Ranchi.

Government schemes

Jharkhand's flagship welfare schemes focus on women's income support, student loans, housing and pensions, alongside central programmes. This section describes only the eligibility rules reported for each scheme and gives no minister's name. Amounts and age limits are revised often, so every item below is "as on October 2026" from the sources opened; check the official portal before applying.

State schemes

Scheme	What it gives	Eligibility as reported
Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana	Monthly cash support to women; launched 3 August 2024 at ₹1,000 a month, and reported to be raised to ₹2,500 a month from December 2024	Jharkhand resident women aged 18 to 50 (the minimum age was lowered from 21 to 18), Aadhaar-linked bank account, ration card of the state; about 56 lakh beneficiaries reported
Guruji Student Credit Card Scheme	Education loan up to ₹15 lakh, of which at most 30% may be for non-institutional costs such as living; no collateral; 15 years to repay	Students of the state; borrower pays a simple 4% interest rate and the state meets the rest as subvention; launched 14 March 2024
Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Overseas Scholarship	Fully funded postgraduate study at empanelled UK universities (tuition, a monthly stipend of £1,100, visa, insurance, return air fare)	Domicile of Jharkhand; SC, ST, OBC or minority; at least 55% in previous class; under 35 years
Abua Awas Yojana	Pucca houses	Intended for 20 lakh eligible families (reported by state government); detailed eligibility not confirmed
Sarvjan Pension Yojana	Social-security pension	State claims to be first in India with this universal-style pension; eligible categories not confirmed
Mukhyamantri Pashudhan Vikas Yojana	Animal husbandry support	₹255 crore in the 2025-26 budget; about 79,000 beneficiaries (PRS)

The Maiyan Samman amount appears in only a news-and-finance source for the December 2024 increase; we list it as reported. The 2025-26 budget also provided ₹585 crore for the Skill Development Mission and announced two new universities, for skills and for fintech (PRS).

Central schemes in the state

Central schemes apply across states and are run with state departments. Those we did not open pages for are not described. The AIIMS at Deoghar was built under the central Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), which aims to reduce regional gaps in tertiary healthcare. Deoghar's airport carries regional flights under the central UDAN scheme. For other central programmes such as PM-KISAN, Ayushman Bharat and PM Awas Yojana, check the central portals for eligibility; we did not verify state-specific data.

Before you apply or answer

• Use the official state portal for forms and the latest amounts.
• Scheme names often change when governments change.
• For the people currently in office, see /current-affairs.

For exam preparation

• The Maiyan Samman Yojana was launched on 3 August 2024; the minimum age was lowered from 21 to 18.
• The Guruji Student Credit Card Scheme (14 March 2024) offers loans up to ₹15 lakh at 4% simple interest, no collateral.
• The Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Overseas Scholarship is for study at empanelled UK universities and is for SC, ST, OBC and minority students.
• AIIMS Deoghar was built under PMSSY.
• The 2025-26 state budget allotted ₹255 crore for the Mukhyamantri Pashudhan Vikas Yojana.

Government exams in Jharkhand

Most government jobs in Jharkhand are filled through two commissions in Ranchi. The Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) selects the Jharkhand Combined Civil Services (the state's "CCE") and other officer-level posts. The Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) recruits for Group B (non-gazetted), Group C and Group D posts, including graduate-level clerks, matric-level staff, constables and sub-inspectors. Teacher eligibility sits with the Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) through the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test (JTET), and the Jharkhand High Court recruits court staff for the district judiciary. Notification dates, vacancy counts, fees and age limits change with every advertisement, so treat every figure below as a pointer and read the latest notice before applying. Where a figure comes from an exam-prep or news site rather than an official document, we write "reported".

Recruitment here has also been contested in the courts, so a section below summarises the main disputes in neutral terms. For a list of live openings, see Jharkhand government jobs. For practice on common patterns, use the online test series.

Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC)

The JPSC is headquartered in Ranchi. Wikipedia says it came into existence in November 2000, when the state was formed on 15 November, though its own text gives two different days. It is headed by a chairperson with several members appointed by the Governor. We do not name any member or chairperson, because the commission's membership changed during 2026 (see the controversies section below). See current affairs for who is in office.

When we opened the JPSC homepage on 4 October 2026, it listed advertisements for Assistant Professor (Super Specialist) in medical colleges (Advt. 07/2026), Jharkhand Combined Civil Services (Backlog) (Advt. 06/2026), Lecturer in Government Polytechnic (Advt. 03/2026 and 04/2026), Civil Judge (Junior Division) Main Examination (Advt. 22/2023) and Drug Inspector (Advt. 12/2025). It also offered an Examination Calendar 2026 for download. A listing is not a promise that an exam will go ahead: the backlog civil services exams were announced for cancellation in August 2026, as described below.

Combined Civil Services Examination (CCE)

This is the flagship exam for Group A and B officer services. Reported posts include Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, District Coordinator and Jail Superintendent. The exam has three stages: Preliminary, Main and Interview.

Stage	Pattern (reported by prep sites; confirm in the notice)
Prelims	Two objective papers (General Studies I and II), 200 marks each, two hours each, in Hindi and English. Reported: no negative marking.
Mains	Six papers. Paper I, General Hindi and General English (100 marks), is qualifying, with a reported minimum of 30 marks. Paper II is Language and Literature (150 marks, chosen from a list of languages). Papers III to VI (200 marks each) cover social sciences, constitution, polity and governance, economy and sciences.
Interview	100 marks, with no minimum qualifying mark reported.

Drishti IAS describes the Mains as six papers totalling 1,050 marks, including the qualifying Paper I; another Drishti page gives 950 marks, which is consistent if Paper I is left out of the merit total. We could not open the official scheme. Papers II to VI count towards the interview shortlist, and the final merit combines these with the interview.

Eligibility, as reported by Careers360 and Drishti IAS, is a bachelor's degree from a recognised university and an age of 20 or 21 to 35 for the general category. Reported upper limits: 37 for backward classes, 38 for women, 40 for SC and ST. Careers360 also reports extra relaxation for ex-servicemen (5 years), persons with disability (10 years) and Jharkhand government employees with three or more years of service (5 years).

The most recent cycle needs care. Drishti IAS reports an exam calendar released on 6 January 2026 with the 14th CCE prelims on 19 April 2026, Mains on 2 to 4 May 2026 and interviews on 16 to 19 June 2026. News reports confirm the prelims was held on 19 April. In August 2026, after weeks of student protests, the state government announced that the 14th CCE preliminary examination and the 2023 and 2025 backlog examinations would be cancelled. We could not find a new exam date. Do not plan around any date you see on a prep site until the JPSC publishes a fresh schedule.

Other JPSC recruitment

The JPSC also advertises specialist and technical posts. On 4 October 2026, its homepage showed medical-college faculty, polytechnic lecturers, drug inspectors and a Civil Judge (Junior Division) mains. Each post has its own qualification, so read the notice.

Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC)

The JSSC was established in 2008 under the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Act, according to Wikipedia. It sits under the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha and recruits to Group B (non-gazetted), C and D posts outside the JPSC's remit. We could not open the JSSC website on 4 October 2026 (the official host refused our connection), so everything below on patterns comes from prep and news sites and is "reported".

Graduate-level exam (JSSC CGL, officially JGGLCCE)

The Jharkhand General Graduate Level Combined Competitive Examination fills posts such as Assistant Section Officer, Junior Secretariat Assistant, Labour Enforcement Officer, Planning Assistant, Block Welfare Officer, Block Supply Officer and Circle Inspector-cum-Kanungo, as listed in the 2023 advertisement. A graduation in any stream is the reported qualification, with 21 as the reported minimum age and 35 (general), 38 (women) and 40 (SC/ST) as maximum. Adda247 reports 2,017 posts, but we could not match this to an official notice, so do not rely on it. ThePrint reports about 6.4 lakh applicants. The history of this exam is covered below.

Matric-level exam (JMLCCE)

The Jharkhand Matric Level Combined Competitive Examination fills Group C posts for matric-pass candidates, such as Insect Collector and Skilled Craftsman. Freshersnow and Amar Ujala describe three papers of two hours each: Paper 1 is a language test (Hindi and English), Paper 2 is a tribal or regional language, and Paper 3 is general knowledge (general studies, Jharkhand knowledge, mathematics and science, 120 questions). The same sources report 3 marks for each right answer and a deduction of 1 mark for each wrong one, and a 30% qualifying mark in the regional-language paper. These descriptions date from the 2023 and 2024 cycles; the language-paper rules were reshaped by court orders (see the next section), so check the current syllabus.

Police constable and sub-inspector

Jharkhand Police recruits constables and sub-inspectors ("Daroga") through the JSSC, not through a separate police board. Prep sites report a Jharkhand Constable Competitive Examination (JCCE) in 2024 with 4,919 posts, and a pattern for constables of two papers totalling 600 marks (a local or tribal language paper, and a paper on numerical ability, general knowledge and Hindi). For sub-inspectors, one site reports a prelims and a mains, followed by a physical efficiency test, physical measurement test, document check and medical test. Reported physical standards for general and OBC men are 160 cm height and 81 cm chest, with a 10 km run in 60 minutes; for women 148 cm height and a 5 km run in 30 minutes. We could not find an official notice for a sub-inspector advertisement and we do not give a vacancy count.

Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) and JTET

The Jharkhand Academic Council, in Ranchi, runs the state's secondary and intermediate board examinations and conducts the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test. JTET has two levels. Paper 1 is for classes 1 to 5 and Paper 2 for classes 6 to 8. Reported structure, for both: 150 multiple-choice questions for 150 marks in 150 minutes, in Hindi and English, with no negative marking; reported qualifying marks are 60% for general and EWS, 55% for backward classes and 52% for SC, ST and persons with disability. Reported minimum qualifications are class 12 with 50% plus a two-year diploma or four-year degree in elementary education for Paper 1, and graduation plus B.Ed or D.El.Ed for Paper 2.

The 2025 JTET was cancelled by the JAC after discrepancies in the syllabus and notification, according to Physics Wallah (article dated 19 June 2025), which says the original window was 24 July to 4 August 2025. A new notification was reported on 28 March 2026. Sources then disagree on the exam date: reports give 14 June 2026, 11 October 2026 and 1 November 2026. Because we could not reconcile them, check jac.jharkhand.gov.in directly. JTET is an eligibility test, not a recruitment exam; teacher posts themselves are filled through separate advertisements.

Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court was established on 15 November 2000 with its seat at Ranchi. Wikipedia reports a sanctioned strength of 25 judges (20 permanent, 5 additional), and a new complex at Dhurwa, Ranchi, inaugurated on 24 May 2023. It recruits court staff for the district courts: reported notices in 2024 included 399 English Stenographer posts (397 for civil courts and 2 for the Judicial Academy; applications 1 to 31 March 2024) and 410 Assistant or Clerk posts (notice on 9 April 2024). The Civil Judge (Junior Division) selection, by contrast, is run by the JPSC (Advt. 22/2023 in its mains stage on 4 October 2026). We found no open High Court recruitment on the sources we checked; look at jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in, which we could not open.

Recruitment disputes you should know about

These are facts about court orders and government announcements, stated without judging anyone.

• JSSC rules, 2022. On 17 December 2022, a High Court division bench struck down two amendments to JSSC recruitment rules: one that made general-category candidates ineligible if their matriculation and intermediate certificates came from outside Jharkhand, and one that dropped Hindi and English from the language paper.
• JSSC CGL 2024. The graduate-level exam, first held on 28 January 2024, was cancelled amid allegations of a leaked paper and re-held in September 2024, with mobile internet shut down statewide. More than a thousand petitioners went to the High Court. On 17 December 2024 the High Court withheld the result and ordered FIRs; FIRs followed in January 2025 and a special investigation team was set up in August 2025. The state government has said its investigation found no organised leak: it reported 187 answers recovered from seized phones, of which 66 matched exam questions. On 3 December 2025 the High Court refused to order a CBI probe and directed that results be published. On 5 January 2026 the Supreme Court upheld this, with appointments subject to the investigation's outcome. In August 2026 the government again declined the demand to cancel the exam.
• JPSC. In the 6th CCE, the High Court cancelled the result because qualifying-paper marks had been added to the final score, and directed a revised merit list. A CBI chargesheet in the second JPSC exam named 60 people, and a special CBI court took cognisance in March 2025. In August 2026, the state government announced it would cancel the 14th CCE prelims and the 2023 and 2025 backlog exams, order an inquiry into exams run by a private contractor, and consult experts from IIT Dhanbad, IIM Ranchi and XLRI on reform. Three JPSC members resigned and the Governor accepted their resignations. Protesters continued to demand a CBI probe.

Domicile, reservation and recruitment rules

Jharkhand does not yet have a settled "local resident" law that is in force for recruitment. A bill that would define locals by the 1932 land survey (khatiyan) has twice passed the Assembly but has not become law, as far as we could confirm. State reservation in jobs is, as far as we could confirm, still SC 10%, ST 26%, OBC 14% and EWS 10%. A bill to raise this to 77% was returned by the Governor in April 2023. Read the notice of each exam, because eligibility and reservation are stated there.

Current reservation in state jobs

Wikipedia's state-wise table lists Jharkhand reservation as SC 10%, ST 26%, OBC 14% and EWS 10%, totalling 60%, with backward classes divided between Annexure 1 and Annexure 2. News reports before 2022 give the same SC, ST and OBC figures. We did not find an official page, so confirm the percentages and any horizontal reservations (for women, persons with disability, ex-servicemen, freedom-fighter dependants) in the advertisement. We do not state the horizontal percentages because we could not verify them.

The 77% reservation bill

In September 2022, the state cabinet approved, and in November 2022 the Assembly passed, an amendment to the Jharkhand Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services Act, 2001. It proposed SC 12%, ST 28% and OBC 27% (reported as 15% for Extremely Backward Classes and 12% for backward classes), with 10% for EWS, totalling 77%. The bill said it would take effect only once placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. On 19 April 2023, the then Governor returned it on the basis of the Attorney General's opinion that it did not take into account Supreme Court decisions, including the 50% ceiling on reservation. We found no report that the Centre has placed it in the Ninth Schedule. Treat it as not in force.

Domicile and the 1932 khatiyan bill

• 2016 policy. The then state government used 1985 as the cut-off: residents before that year counted as domiciles, with reported added routes for those born and schooled in Jharkhand and for those whose ancestors appear in land records. Grade III and IV jobs gave preference to locals. Opponents of that policy disputed the 1985 cut-off and asked for 1932.
• 2022 bill. The Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons and for Extending the Consequential Social, Cultural and Other Benefits to Such Local Persons Bill, 2022, passed on 11 November 2022. It defines locals as those whose name or ancestors' names appear in the 1932 or earlier khatiyan, with a route for landless natives, and reserves Grade III and IV posts for them.
• Legal problems. The Governor returned it in January 2023 for review of its legality against the Constitution and Supreme Court orders. The Assembly passed it again on 21 December 2023, after a Governor's return with suggestions. A 2002 High Court ruling had struck down an earlier domicile policy. We found no report that the bill has received assent.

Selection stages and cycles

Officer posts (JPSC): Prelims, Mains and Interview. Group C and D posts (JSSC): written exam, often with a language paper and a Jharkhand-specific paper; police posts add physical tests. Teacher posts: eligibility through JTET, then a recruitment test. Reported maximum ages are 35 general, 37 backward classes, 38 women, and 40 SC and ST, with 5 more years reported for ex-servicemen and 10 for persons with disability in JPSC. There is no fixed annual calendar; cycles have been slowed by litigation, so plan for gaps and watch the JPSC calendar.

How to use this guide for exam preparation

This guide is meant as a reading list for the state-specific part of Jharkhand exams. For JPSC prelims, JSSC graduate-level and matric-level exams, a Jharkhand section is a significant part of the paper. In the matric-level pattern we found, 50 of 120 general-knowledge questions were on Jharkhand. Use the sections of this page as follows.

High-yield sections

• Overview and administration. Formation (15 November 2000), capital, districts, divisions and neighbours are asked most often.
• Geography. Rivers, plateaus, Parasnath Hill, Betla and other protected areas, minerals, and the Damodar and Subarnarekha systems.
• History and tribal movements. Tribes, the Santhal and Munda movements, Sarna and land laws.
• Culture and tribes. Languages, festivals and dances. The language list matters, because the JSSC and JPSC use regional-language papers.
• Government and reservation. The 1932 bill, the 77% bill and the structure of the legislature, written as concepts rather than names.
• This Part D. The Rapid-fire table below and the dispute summary, because current-affairs questions often come from recruitment news.

A four-week revision plan

Week	Focus
1	Overview, history, administration and districts. Make a one-page map of the 24 districts and five divisions.
2	Geography: rivers, hills, parks, minerals, industry and energy. Draw the river systems.
3	Culture, tribes, languages, schemes and government structure. Revise the reservation and domicile notes in this Part D.
4	Revise only the Rapid-fire table and your own notes, then take two full mocks on the online test series. Practise reading the question stem fully, as negative marking is reported for some exams but not all.

For comparison with neighbouring recruitment systems, see Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Common traps

• Number of districts. Wikipedia lists 24 as on 4 October 2026. Check the official site and the date of the question.
• Reservation percentages. The 77% figure is a bill, not the law. The reported law is SC 10, ST 26, OBC 14 and EWS 10.
• Domicile. The 1932 bill passed the Assembly but we found no report that it is in force. Questions may ask which cut-off year the 2016 policy used (1985).
• JSSC CGL. The exam was cancelled once and re-held; results were published after the December 2025 High Court order, subject to the investigation.
• JTET dates. Reported dates differ between sources. Use the JAC site.
• Old patterns. Many sites still show pre-2022 JSSC rules and syllabus.
• Names. Office-holders change. Learn the office and how it is filled, not the person.

Rapid-fire facts

As on 4 October 2026. Exam figures marked "reported" come from prep or news sites.

Fact	Answer
Jharkhand formed on	15 November 2000
Capital	Ranchi
Sub-capital	Dumka
Number of districts (Wikipedia, as on 4 Oct 2026)	24
Area	79,716 sq km
Population, Census 2011	32,988,134
Scheduled Tribes share, Census 2011	26.21%
Scheduled Caste share, Census 2011	12.08%
Urban share, Census 2011	24.05%
Sex ratio (Wikipedia)	948 females per 1,000 males
Official language	Hindi
Additional official languages	15 regional languages, including Santali, Kurukh, Mundari and Khortha
Neighbour to the east	West Bengal
Neighbour to the west	Chhattisgarh
Neighbour to the northwest	Uttar Pradesh
Neighbour to the north	Bihar
Neighbour to the south	Odisha
Highest point	Parasnath Hill, 1,365 m
Rivers named in the state profile	Damodar, Subarnarekha, North Koel, South Koel, Ganga, Son
National park named	Betla National Park
Tiger reserve named	Palamu Tiger Reserve
State animal	Indian elephant
State bird	Koel
State tree	Sal
State flower	Palash
Religion with the largest share, Census 2011	Hinduism, 67.8%
Share following Sarnaism, Census 2011	12.5%
High Court established	15 November 2000
High Court seat	Ranchi
New High Court complex	Dhurwa, Ranchi
Complex inaugurated	24 May 2023
High Court sanctioned judges	25 (20 permanent, 5 additional)
High Court's parent court before 2000	Patna High Court
JPSC headquarters	Ranchi
JPSC came into existence	November 2000
JSSC established	2008
JSSC created under	Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Act
JSSC parent department	Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha
JSSC covers	Group B (non-gazetted), C and D posts
JPSC CCE stages	Prelims, Mains, Interview
JPSC prelims papers	Two (General Studies I and II), 200 marks each (reported)
JPSC prelims negative marking	None (reported)
JPSC Mains papers	Six (reported)
JPSC Mains Paper I	General Hindi and English, qualifying, 30 marks minimum (reported)
JPSC Mains Paper II	Language and Literature, 150 marks (reported)
JPSC Mains Papers III to VI	200 marks each (reported)
JPSC general maximum age	35 (reported)
JPSC SC/ST maximum age	40 (reported)
JPSC women's maximum age	38 (reported)
14th CCE prelims held on	19 April 2026
14th CCE prelims	Announced for cancellation in August 2026
JSSC CGL first held on	28 January 2024
JSSC CGL re-held in	September 2024
High Court order withholding CGL result	17 December 2024
High Court order allowing CGL result and refusing CBI probe	3 December 2025
Supreme Court upheld that order	5 January 2026
CGL applicants (ThePrint)	About 6.4 lakh
Matric-level paper 3 Jharkhand questions	50 of 120 (reported)
Matric-level marking	+3 right, -1 wrong (reported)
JMLCCE regional-language paper minimum	30% (reported)
Constable exam 2024 (JCCE) posts	4,919 (reported)
Constable exam structure	Two papers, 600 marks (reported)
Reported male height standard (general/OBC)	160 cm
Reported male run	10 km in 60 minutes
Reported female height standard	148 cm
Reported female run	5 km in 30 minutes
JTET conducted by	Jharkhand Academic Council
JTET levels	Paper 1 (classes 1-5) and Paper 2 (classes 6-8)
JTET marks	150 questions, 150 marks (reported)
JTET qualifying marks, general/EWS	60% (reported)
JTET qualifying marks, backward classes	55% (reported)
JTET qualifying marks, SC/ST/PwD	52% (reported)
JTET 2025	Cancelled by the JAC
Reservation: SC	10%
Reservation: ST	26%
Reservation: OBC	14%
Reservation: EWS	10%
Total under current figures	60%
77% bill: SC	12%
77% bill: ST	28%
77% bill: OBC	27%
77% bill: EWS	10%
77% bill amends	Jharkhand Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services Act, 2001
77% bill returned	19 April 2023
Reason the 77% bill was returned	Attorney General's opinion on Supreme Court decisions
Assembly passed 1932 domicile bill	11 November 2022
Assembly passed it again	21 December 2023
Cut-off year in the 1932 bill	1932 (khatiyan)
Cut-off year in the 2016 policy	1985
Earlier domicile policy struck down by High Court	2002
HC order on JSSC rules (outside-state schooling)	17 December 2022
High Court stenographer posts, 2024 (reported)	399
High Court clerk posts, 2024 (reported)	410
CBI chargesheet in second JPSC exam	60 accused
Expert bodies named for exam reform, August 2026	IIT Dhanbad, IIM Ranchi, XLRI

Frequently asked questions

How many districts does Jharkhand have? Wikipedia lists 24 districts in 5 divisions as on 4 October 2026. Check the official portal for the latest.

Which body conducts the Jharkhand civil services exam? The Jharkhand Public Service Commission, in Ranchi. It runs the Combined Civil Services Examination in three stages.

Is the 14th JPSC prelims cancelled? In August 2026 the state government announced it would be cancelled, along with the 2023 and 2025 backlog exams. We found no new schedule. Check the JPSC site.

What is the JPSC prelims pattern? Reported: two objective papers of 200 marks each, with no negative marking. Confirm in the notice.

Who conducts the Jharkhand police constable exam? The JSSC conducts it, with physical tests after the written exam. We did not find an official notice for the current cycle.

What is JSSC CGL? The Jharkhand General Graduate Level Combined Competitive Examination, for posts such as Assistant Section Officer and Junior Secretariat Assistant.

Was the JSSC CGL paper leaked? Allegations led to cancellation of the January 2024 exam. The state government says its investigation found no organised leak; the High Court refused a CBI probe in December 2025, and an investigation continues.

Is there a CBI inquiry into JSSC CGL? Not as of our check. The High Court refused one on 3 December 2025 and the Supreme Court upheld that on 5 January 2026.

What is the 1932 khatiyan domicile bill? It defines "local persons" as those whose names or ancestors' names are in the 1932 or earlier land records, and reserves Grade III and IV jobs for them. The Assembly passed it in November 2022 and again in December 2023. We found no report of assent.

Does Jharkhand have a domicile policy today? We could not confirm any new definition in force. The 2016 policy used a 1985 cut-off. Check each advertisement.

What is the reservation in Jharkhand government jobs? Reported: SC 10%, ST 26%, OBC 14%, EWS 10%. Check horizontal quotas in the notice.

What happened to the 77% reservation bill? The Assembly passed it in November 2022. The Governor returned it on 19 April 2023 after the Attorney General's opinion. It was to take effect only after inclusion in the Ninth Schedule.

What is the age limit for JPSC and JSSC graduate-level exams? Reported: 35 general, 37 backward classes, 38 women and 40 SC and ST. Lower limits of 20 or 21 are reported.

What is JTET? The Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test, run by the Jharkhand Academic Council, for classes 1 to 5 and 6 to 8. It is an eligibility test, not a job.

When is JTET 2026? Sources disagree: 14 June, 11 October and 1 November 2026 have all been reported. Check jac.jharkhand.gov.in.

Can candidates from other states apply for Jharkhand government jobs? Many officer-level exams are open to Indian citizens, with domicile affecting reservation claims. Group C and D rules are stated in each notice. A High Court order in December 2022 struck down a rule excluding out-of-state schooling.

Where can I see live openings? See Jharkhand government jobs and the online test series.

Where can I compare with neighbouring states? See Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Sources and verification

Time-sensitive facts (budget, exam rules, domicile and reservation bills, recruitment cycles) were checked on 4 October 2026. Where sources disagreed or a figure came from a single secondary source, the text says so. Election figures are Wikipedia reproductions of Election Commission data, with the 2026-27 budget from PRS Legislative Research; cross-check Election Commission results before quoting a number in an answer. Census 2011 is the latest published census.

Facts verified on 4 October 2026. Only pages we actually opened are listed. Exam patterns and eligibility figures are largely from prep and news sites and are marked "reported"; official JSSC and High Court sites could not be opened, so confirm in the current notice.

• Jharkhand Public Service Commission official site (jpsc.gov.in), homepage on 4 October 2026.
• Jharkhand Academic Council official site (jac.jharkhand.gov.in), homepage only; it showed no JTET detail.
• Wikipedia, as a cross-check only: Jharkhand, Jharkhand Public Service Commission, Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission, Jharkhand High Court and Reservation in India.
• Drishti IAS: JPSC exam pattern page, JPSC Combined Civil Services 2025 page, and state current-affairs pages on the domicile and reservation bills.
• Careers360: JPSC eligibility criteria page and the news page on the High Court's JSSC rules order.
• ThePrint, explainer on the JSSC CGL controversy.
• Daily Pioneer, explainer on the JPSC and JSSC protests.
• All India Radio (newsonair.gov.in), report on the August 2026 agreement.
• Scroll, explainer on the 1932 domicile policy.
• Adda247 (JSSC CGL), Freshersnow (JSSC matric level) and Physics Wallah (JTET 2025 cancellation); Spill.org (JTET 2026).
• Search-result summaries (not full pages) for the Jharkhand Police constable and sub-inspector patterns, the High Court staff recruitment notices, JTET 2026 dates and qualifying marks, the 2016 domicile policy, and the 6th JPSC and CBI chargesheet items.