Naresh Patnaik, OP
Keonjhar: Even as the inhabitants of several mining pockets, such as in Keonjhar, have been suffering from acute lack of development of basic facilities, a major portion of the District Mineral Foundation (DKF) funds remain unutilised.
Some time back, the government amended the Section 9(B) of the Mining and Mineral Development Regulation (MMDR) Act by including the provision of DMF fund meant to be spent for development activities in the mining areas. The government also formed Trust Boards in 2015 to allocate money from DMF fund in the mining pockets.
According to reports, a Trust Board was formed in Keonjhar too, but it allegedly was not formed in compliance with the guidelines. This is because inhabitants of the mining areas were not made a part of the trust. Besides, it has been alleged that the DMF fund collected from mining firms are not being utilised properly. This has caused a lot of resentment among the locals.
Sources in the district administration said DMF has been put in place in the district January 16, 2016 and funds worth over Rs 1166.31 crore was collected for DMF from since the inception of the DMF till September 2017. Nevertheless, only a paltry sum of Rs 60.39 crore has been spent till now. It is unfortunate that not a single paisa was spent from DMF in the 2015-16 fiscal.
In 2016-17, the DMG spent over Rs 60.43 crore, while the Trust Board has spent over Rs 5.10 lakh till now.
Drinking water has been a major issue in most parts of the mining belts. In order to overcome this issue, the government has implemented a number of schemes to provide safe drinking water to the people. A sum of Rs 3.57 crore has been spent from the DMF fund in this connection.
“As per guidelines, people are entitled receive piped water, but in many places, the authorities have sunk tube wells to solve the drinking water crisis,” alleged former MP Ananta Nayak.
Besides, maternity and infant healthcare is another critical area in the district where IMMR has been alarming. Unfortunately, only a sum of Rs 49.70 lakh has been spent from DMF fund for this purpose.
The amendment to Section 9(B) of the MMDR Act mandates that the mining firms will have to contribute 25 per cent of their annual dividends to DMF so as to facilitate undertaking various developmental activities in the mining areas. As per the decision of the DMF trust board, these funds will be allocated according to the requirement and demands of the people inhabiting the mining areas.
To ensure that the funds are utilised properly, it is important for the administration to earmark areas and also take note of the problems faced by the local populace. Accordingly, projects are to be undertaken.
However, experts pointed out that though the DMF receives funds from the mining firms, the spending is not only inadequate, but haphazard too. It does help not solve the enormity of multiple basic problems besetting the mining pockets. This has been the primary cause for growing resentment among the affected population in these areas.
Public discontent over the issue came to light during the recent visit of Development Commissioner R Balkrishnan to the district. While there is grave concern over the meagerly spending of DMF funds in the mining areas, the demands of the people for basic development have been virtually ignored.
Years ago, the state government had announced to set up medical colleges in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj. Funds from the treasury were supposed to be allocated for these projects. However, the authorities diverted DMF finds meant for basic development activities in the mining belt for initiating work on the proposed Keonjhar medical college.
This has not been taken well by the local residents. According to Shankar Sahu of Keonjhar Bikash Manch, while the DMF trust board was not constituted in compliance with the guidelines, the funds from the board have either been spent for non-developmental projects or for projects outside the mining areas.
Even the Development Commissioner R Balkrishnan observed that spending by the DMF was rather poor compared to the funds collected from the mining firms in the region. He also noted that there was lack of coordination among various departments.
Balkrishnan pointed out that in order to ensure the proper expenditure of the funds, they would seek public opinion regarding the places as well as priority projects. Subsequently, the projects would be earmarked and estimates prepared before spending money from DMF funds.
He further assured that henceforth all money from the DMF fund will be spent according to the requirements of the local people, while no money will be spent for projects outside the district. PNN
