Keonjhar: This district is known for its huge quantities of iron ore. In fact, it is said that Keonjhar is the highest iron ore-producing district in India. However, despite bringing huge amounts of revenue to the exchequer both at the state and central levels, the district continues to remain underdeveloped. The people here belong mostly to tribal communities and live in poverty. The mineral-rich blocks of Joda, Banspal, Hatadihi, Harichandanpur still lack the basic minimum amenities. Unemployment is also high in this district. The District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund was expected to play a key role in the overall development. However, the funds are mostly used for physical infrastructure.
Development of basic facilities and amenities has taken a back seat and as a result, the suffering of the people grows. Sources alleged that there is a glaring lack of attention towards improving the well-being of mining-affected communities through better investments in healthcare, nutrition, availability of clean water and creating income security.
However, there are some good examples as well that show how the funds can be used constructively. For instance, this district has used DMF funds for local livelihoods through millet, scholarships to talented but poor and backward students, and improving health facilities. DMF is committed to the interest and benefit of mining-affected areas. People were happy with the thought that in addition to the budgetary resources of the state government, funds would also be available from DMF, stated a source. But later on, DMF funds became the major budgetary resource for which this district lost contributions from the state, he added. “Due to lack of proper management, huge funds are spent on different projects without calling any tenders. Many projects have been lying incomplete for years together. The funds have been spent for projects which could have been developed with money provided by the Odisha government,” said Subhakanta Nayak, an RTI activist. “The trustee board of the DMF is not meeting regularly.
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On many occasions, proposals are passed without the necessary approval of the board. Huge amounts have been spent for the appointment of staff in the DMF and most of them are incompetent,” Nayak added. Nayak’s opinion was supported by social activist Mukhtar Ahmed. “As DMF fund is Keonjhar’s own, hence local needs and employment should be given priority. Funds have been spent on many unnecessary projects and due to lack of proper supervision huge amounts of money have gone to waste due to poor quality work,” Ahmed pointed out.
According to the DMF website, total funds collected so far are Rs 11,541.12 crore (it includes Rs 1,731 crore in FY 2023-24 and Rs 438 crore in the ongoing FY 2024-25). So far 3,271 projects have been undertaken and Rs 5,308.09 crore has been spent on those.
Out of this Rs 3,628.25 crore has been spent on 2,592 projects in high-priority areas and Rs 1,679.85 crore on 679 projects in other. District Collector and chairman of the DMF trustee board Bishal Singh said, “The data available on the website is wrong. We have spent more money than the figure being shown on the website. We will soon review the projects to find out how many of them are incomplete. Work on various projects is regularly monitored by our technical team.”
