New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the Union mines ministry and all mineral-rich states to spend 60 per cent of the Rs 21,000 crore generated till date by district mineral foundations (DMFs) on high priority areas like health, sanitation, education, women and child development as well as skill development.
The Prime Minister is keen that these funds, meant for districts affected by mining, are utilised in these specific sectors to benefit the residents of those mining regions which include the 117 districts earmarked by Niti Aayog as requiring special attention for quick economic growth and social welfare.
District mineral foundation (DMF) is a trust set up as a non-profit body to work for the interest and benefit of people and areas affected by mining related operations. It is funded through contributions from miners and is controlled by state government.
There are 566 mining districts in the country spread across Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chha-ttisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa.
The Niti Aayog, along with the home ministry and other Union ministries, has selected 117 “aspirational districts” which need to be brought into the socio-economic mainstream by improving various developmental parameters.
The decision to speed up utilisation of DMF money was taken during a high-level review meeting of Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY), where Mr Modi was informed that Rs 21,000 crore has been generated under DMFs and around 80,000 welfare programmes are under progress in the major mining states, sources said.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister noted that resources available with mineral-rich districts should be used to bring about an improvement in quality of life and “ease of living”.
He also added that this is an opportunity to bring the “aspirational districts” out of their chronic development deficit, official sources said.
The objective of PMKKKY is to implement various development and welfare projects in mining-affected areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes of states as well as those of the Central government. It also aims to mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, public health and the district’s socio-economics.
