The first meeting of the recently-formed State level Committee (SlC) on District Mineral Foundation (DMF) was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the State Secretariat on Thursday in which the district level committees led by the Collectors participated though videoconferencing.
Steel & Mines Principal Secretary Raj Kumar Sharma clarified the issues raised by the Collectors for ground-level implementation of the projects under the DMF. The Chief Secretary advised the Collectors to spend the DMF fund most judiciously prioritising the mining-affected areas and the felt needs in priority sectors of developmental agenda.
Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan suggested establishing last-mile road connectivity to the remote, cutoff habitations for delivery of essential services. The Collectors were also asked to utilise technical and manpower expertise of the line departments for preparation and implementation of the projects under the DMF.
The line departments in heavy mining districts were advised to deploy more manpower like engineers, technical staff, etc., for execution of the projects as per the necessity.
Mines Principal Secretary Sharma advised the Collectors to look into the amended ODMF Rules and guidelines and plan collection and expenditures of funds accordingly.
Sharma told reporters that the SlC has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary as per the Government notification on July 14, 2016. The District Mineral Foundations have been formed in all the districts, and in many major districts the foundations have started implementing developmental projects.
Sharma added that as of now, more than Rs 1100 crore has been collected as District Mineral Foundation Fund in various districts.
As per the amended rule, in case of major minerals 30% of royalty for mining leases granted before January 12, 2015 and 10% of the royalty of the mining leases granted after this date are to be collected as the Mineral Fund. For minor minerals, 30% of the royalty for leases not granted through auction and 10% of the royalty for leases granted through auction would be collected.
The meeting also discussed the proposals for including the infrastructural projects for welfare of old-age persons, persons with disabilities, transgenders, drug addicts and working women. It was decided that the Executive Committees of the DMF may consider projects like establishment of old age homes, district rehabilitation centres, homes for mentally-retarded persons, drug de-addiction centres, etc., in mining-affected areas.