12 states delay mines scheme

New Delhi: More than two years after the government’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) was launched with the aim of implementing various developmental and welfare projects in mining-affected areas through funds allocated under district mineral foundation (DMF), a majority of 12 mineral-rich states delayed the process of setting up this corpus by a year to two years.

Chief among the laggard states are Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana. While all of these six states managed to set up the DMF only in 2016, Tamil Nadu is the worst performer with the state setting up the fund only in May this year, according to details available with this newspaper.

Top sources said that while recently reviewing the scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have directed officials to give its implementation top priority.

The scheme, which was launched on September 17, 2015 on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, is an offshoot of a key provision of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 (commonly known as the MMDR Amendment Bill) — which calls for creation of DMF. As per the legislation (which was passed by Parliament in March 2015) the DMF was to be established by the state governments for mitigating the impact of mining operations in affected areas.  

Subsequently the Government launched the PMKKKY for expediting the process of setting up these funds at district levels in all mineral rich states of the country.

Considering the fact that the MMDR Amendment Bill which mandated the states to set up DMFs, was passed in March 2015, all the aforementioned states have delayed the process of setting up the fund by a year to two years.

Gujarat set up the DMF on April 1, 2016, while Jharkhand did so on March 23, 2016. Maharashtra created the DMF on September 1, 2016, Rajasthan in May of the same year, while Karnataka and Telangana both set up the DMF in January 2016.

Only Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Goa were the five major mineral rich states which had set up the funds within one to eight months of the MMDR Amendment Bill coming into existence.

Concerned over the slackness shown by these major mineral producing states in setting up the DMF, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a recent review of the PMKKKY, is learnt to have told top officials of Centre as well as the states that they should accord top priority to the scheme.

According to highly placed sources, Mr Modi directed the Union Mines ministry and states to create a web portal for monitoring the scheme, and ensure usage of DMF funds properly.

The Mines Ministry, sources said, is in the process of creating a national web portal, which will ensure real time monitoring of fund usage accrued under DMF. Some states have also developed their own portals for the purpose.

The Prime Minister is also learnt to have directed the Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to review the scheme to ensure its speedy implementation.