Jagran correspondent, Chas (Bokaro). Atal Bihari Vajpayee Birth Anniversary: The birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was celebrated in Chas on Thursday by Atal Jagriti Manch. The chief guest of the program was BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Arjun Munda. He gave the credit for the creation of Jharkhand state to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Along with this, he also spoke on the issues related to the looting of mineral wealth including sand in the state and the PESA law. Arjun Munda said that due to the nexus of the government and the mafia, there is looting everywhere in Jharkhand. The situation has become such that under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the poor are not able to even get sand to build their houses. He said that during the tenure of BJP, Panchayat elections were conducted under the PESA law and powers were given to the Panchayats for the development of villages. The former Chief Minister said that the present Hemant Soren government kept the PESA law under its control for years. The government needs to gain experience with respect to the role of the Governor and constitutional processes. A simple notification was enough to implement the PESA law, but the government did not take it seriously. He further said that whether the PESA law has been truly followed or merely violated will be assessed in due course of time. Arjun Munda also said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee worked to give a strong direction to the country even in adverse circumstances. Under his leadership, many historic and concrete decisions were taken in the national interest. He said that the life of Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been a symbol of patriotism, good governance and harmony. He made politics a medium of service and always kept democratic values paramount. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is following the same path and working to make the country self-reliant and strong. Present India is moving forward like a blooming lotus on the path of progress. He said that the entire life of Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a source of inspiration for today's generation and his thoughts are relevant even today. Many dignitaries including Jai Shankar Singh, Yogeshwar Mahato Batul, Vinay Singh, Binod Kumar, Rakesh Kumar Madhu, Praveen Kumar, Vikram Pandey, Amarnath Jha were present in the program.