Sarna, Jahersthan, Hadgadi and Masna Protection and Development Scheme

What is the Sarna, Jahersthan, Hadgadi and Masna Protection and Development Scheme?

Sarna, Jahersthan, Hadgadi and Masna Protection and Development Scheme is a scheme of the Department of Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare, Government of Jharkhand. The scheme pays for the protection and development of four categories of tribal community sites named in its title, sarna, jaher sthan, hadgadi and masna. It is often referred to locally by the shorter name Sarna-Masna gherav, meaning the fencing of sarna and masna sites.

The four terms describe distinct things, and the distinction matters when a village prepares a proposal:

• Sarna, the sacred grove, a preserved patch of forest that a tribal village worships and does not cut. Sarna sites are central to the religious life of Oraon, Munda, Kharia and other communities in Jharkhand.
• Jaher sthan, the sacred grove of the Santhal tradition, where the village deities are worshipped and community festivals are held.
• Hadgadi, the site where the bones of the dead are kept, following the burial practice of several tribal communities.
• Masna — the burial and memorial ground, where memorial stones marking ancestors stand.

The department's mandate, as stated on its own page, is the welfare of the most underprivileged sections of society, namely the Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Minorities. This scheme addresses one specific and long-standing problem within that mandate: sacred groves and burial grounds across Jharkhand have been lost to encroachment, road and building work, and changes in land use, largely because their boundaries existed only in community memory and never on the ground or in a record. A boundary wall settles the question physically.

Key features

• Sarna, Jahersthan, Hadgadi and Masna Protection and Development Scheme is a works scheme, not a cash transfer.
• The benefit accrues to a village or community, not to any individual.
• Works are executed through the district administration, with the site handed back to community use.
• Sites are taken up as individual sanctioned proposals, not as a single statewide list open for public application.

Who is eligible, and which sites are excluded?

A site can be taken up if:

• It is a sarna, jaher sthan, hadgadi or masna used by the tribal community of the village.
• The village or Gram Sabha identifies the site and supports the proposal.
• The land particulars of the site can be established, khata, plot and area, so that a boundary and an estimate can be drawn.
• The site is free of ownership and boundary dispute. Building a wall fixes a boundary on the ground, so a contested site cannot be taken up until the dispute is settled.
• The District Welfare Office and the Deputy Commissioner recommend the proposal.

These applicants cannot apply and are not eligible:

• Individuals seeking a personal payment. No cash benefit, pension or reimbursement exists under this scheme, and any promise of one is false.
• Private religious or commercial premises. The scheme is directed at community sacred and burial sites of tribal communities.
• Sites under litigation or with disputed boundaries, until the dispute is resolved.
• Anyone applying directly to the department in Ranchi without going through the district route. Proposals reach the department through the district, with the Deputy Commissioner's recommendation, not over the counter.

What work does the scheme cover?

Work under Sarna, Jahersthan, Hadgadi and Masna Protection and Development Scheme is concentrated on protecting the physical site. Depending on what the sanctioned estimate for a particular site provides for, it can include:

• A boundary wall or fencing around the identified extent of the site.
• A gate and approach so that the community can use the site for worship and last rites.
• Site development such as levelling, a platform for community gatherings, or protection of the memorial stones at a masna.

Cost is fixed in the technical estimate approved for each site, because the requirement varies with the area of the grove, the terrain and the length of wall needed. This guide does not state a standing per-site rupee ceiling, because the department has not published one that can be verified on an official source. Villages should ask the District Welfare Office for the sanctioned estimate for their own site rather than relying on a figure circulating locally.

What documents are needed for a proposal?

How to apply for protection of a site in your village

1. Pass a Gram Sabha resolution. The village records which sarna, jaher sthan, hadgadi or masna is to be protected, its location and extent, and the condition it is in. This resolution is the foundation of the proposal.
2. Get the land particulars from the circle office. Obtain the khata, plot number and area for the site from the anchal or circle office, since the estimate and the boundary both depend on a defined extent.
3. Submit the representation to the District Welfare Office. Take the resolution and land particulars to the District Welfare Officer of your district, who is the district arm of the Welfare Department for tribal welfare works.
4. Let the district process the proposal. According to the district welfare administration's published procedure, project proposals are checked at the district level and sent to the welfare department with the recommendation of the Deputy Commissioner. Final approval is taken at directorate level through a screening committee before funds are released.
5. Follow up on sanction and execution. After sanction, the works are executed through the district administration's designated agency. Ask the District Welfare Office for the sanction letter and the estimate, and check that the boundary being built matches the extent recorded in the resolution.

Why do proposals stall?

• The land record is unclear. This is the commonest obstacle. A grove whose plot number and area cannot be established from the circle office record cannot be estimated or fenced.
• A boundary dispute exists. Where a neighbouring landholder contests the extent, the district will not proceed until the dispute is settled, because a wall would pre-empt the outcome.
• No Gram Sabha resolution. An individual representation without the village body behind it does not establish that the site is a community site.
• No estimate prepared. A request without a technical estimate cannot be sanctioned, since the sanction is against a costed work.
• Filed at the wrong level. Proposals sent directly to Ranchi without the district route and the Deputy Commissioner's recommendation are not processed.

Where do I raise the matter?

The first point of contact is the District Welfare Office of your district, which handles tribal welfare works and forwards proposals upward. The department itself is the Department of Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare, Project Bhawan, Dhurwa, Ranchi 834004, which lists 0651-2400215 and 0651-2446282 as its contact numbers and secretary-welfare@jharkhandmail.gov.in as its email address.

One caution worth stating plainly. Because this scheme funds construction rather than a cash benefit, there is no application form for a citizen to fill and no fee to pay anyone. If a person offers to get a village's sarna or masna "sanctioned" for a payment, that is not how the scheme works, the route runs from the Gram Sabha through the District Welfare Office and the Deputy Commissioner, and every step of it is a government record the village is entitled to see.

How to check your proposal status

There is no online tracker or application number for this scheme, because a village never files an individual application, it moves a proposal through the district. Checking status means following up at the same offices the proposal passed through, in this order.

1. Start with the District Welfare Office. This is the office that first received the Gram Sabha resolution and land particulars, and it holds the file number or reference under which the proposal was forwarded. Ask specifically whether the proposal has been sent to the department yet, or is still being checked at the district level.
2. Ask what stage the file is at. A proposal from your village sits in one of three stages: still at the district (documents or estimate being completed), forwarded to the department with the Deputy Commissioner's recommendation, or before the screening committee at directorate level awaiting final sanction. The District Welfare Office can tell you which of these applies, since the department does not deal with villages directly.
3. Call the department if the district has no update. The Department of Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare can be reached at 0651-2400215 or 0651-2446282, or at secretary-welfare@jharkhandmail.gov.in, to ask whether a proposal forwarded by a named district has reached the screening committee.
4. After sanction, track execution, not paperwork. Once a site is sanctioned, the relevant question shifts from "has it been approved" to "has the executing agency started work". Ask the District Welfare Office for the sanction letter and the name of the agency carrying out the boundary wall or site development, and follow up with that agency on the work timeline.
5. Keep a copy of the Gram Sabha resolution and the date it was submitted. Since there is no digital receipt or tracking ID, this dated resolution is the village's own record of when the proposal entered the system, and it is what any office will ask for to locate the file.

Villages should be cautious of anyone claiming to check status on a portal or app on the government's behalf: this scheme has no such online status feature, and the only reliable checkpoints are the District Welfare Office and the department's own contact numbers above.