Revealing that there was a revenue loss to the tune of Rs13,428 crore in Odisha during a single financial year, 2012-13, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has indicted the State Government for failing to detect irregular removal and storage of around 47.42 lakh MT of minerals valued at Rs 552.50 crore during the period.
Besides, CAG also came down heavily on the failure of the Government in taking action against irregular mining, transfer of mining leases, irregular extraction of minerals not covered under mining plan and unlawful stacking of minerals and removal of ore in excess of the permitted quantities.
The CAG, in its report on the Revenue Sector, said that though the total revenue receipts of the Government during the 2012-13 fiscal increased by Rs 3,669 crore against Rs 40,267 crore in the previous year, the losses by way Sales Tax, Profession Tax, Motor Vehicle Tax, land revenue and stamp duty and royalties on minerals were a huge Rs 13,428.22 crore in 1,63,150 cases.
Finance Minister Pradeep Kumar Amat tabled two reports of the CAG in the State Assembly on the last day of its Budget Session on Monday relating to the Revenue Sector and General and Social Sector for 2012-2013.
The major revenue loss was identified in the mining receipts. The CAG pointed out that the Government was mum on the reasons for the lapses.
It said an application for mining lease (Ml) is required to be disposed of within one year from the date of receipt. However, it was found that in the Joda and Sambalpur circles, three Mls were granted and executed between 2007 and 2012 irregularly violating the statutory environment and forest laws.
In case of one Ml under the Joda circle for lease of 47.219 hectares which included forest areas of 26.89 hectares, it was granted in January 2009 against the application of November 1998 and the lease was executed in November 2009. In this case, the lessee was granted Prospective licence (Pl) for two years from April 1998 but carried prospective operation in the area without obtaining mandatory approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest which was a breach of licence condition.
The report further said the Ml application was entertained though it was submitted before expiry of the Pl period in February 2000. Besides, the lease was granted for iron ore and manganese though a total quantity of manganese was extracted and no reserve of manganese was available in the leased area.
In another case, under the Sambalpur Mining Circle, Ml for 25.046 hectares was granted in April 2007 and the lease deed was executed in November 2007 though the lessee had applied for Ml in October 1995 before expiry of the Pl period in October 1996. As per the rule, an Ml is to be granted to a Pl holder if he has applied for the lease within three months after the expiry of the Pl and has undertaken prospecting operation to establish mineral resources in such land and has not committed any breach of the terms and conditions of the Pl.
The CAG was critical of the Government for the lack of a State-specific mineral policy despite the National Mineral Policies, 1993 and 2008. The State-specific policy could have further helped in framing a long-term strategy for conservation and development of minerals and boosting investors’ confidence in the mining sector.
It said that though the State had formed a committee to formulate and finalise the draft Mineral Policy in 2008, even after a lapse of seven years, the SMP is yet to be finalised.
On the unlawful stacking of minerals, the CAG pointed out that a lessee under the Jajpur Road circle in June 2013 had stacked 5.56 MT of iron ore in forest areas outside the lease area for which a de-reservation proposal was not finalised by the MoEF. Transit permit or transit pass was also not issued by the mining authorities for removal of the ore from the leasehold areas to stacked place at Baliparbat.
Unlawful transportation and storage of minerals valued at Rs 140 crore
should have been seized and confiscated, but the Deputy Director Mines of the circle neither seized nor raised demand for realiaation of the price of the minerals, the report said.
The report also said that due to improper checking of permitted and
dispatched quantities of minerals, dispatch of 37.23 lakh tonnes of minerals valued at Rs 75.16 crore in excess of the permitted quantity remained undetected. Similarly, due to an incorrect assessment of minerals on ad-valorem basis, there was short levy of royalty of Rs 273.23 crore.
The CAG has indicted the Government for its failure to successfully implement the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme in the State. Delay in constitution of the Gram Kalyan Samitis (GKSs) at the village level has resulted in a loss of Rs 18.52 crore of Central assistance.
Despite the increasing trend of institutional deliveries in the State, the position was not satisfactory in Koraput, Nabarangpur and Kalahandi districts, where it remained between 13 per cent and 64 per cent.