Months after the Justice M B Shah Commission presented its report on illegal mining in Odisha to the Union Mines Ministry where it had sharply indicted the State Government for failing to justify its inability to deal with applications seeking renewal of mining leases for decades, the Cabinet on Thursday directed a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) to prepare an action taken report (ATR) on the findings of the panel. Both these documents will be tabled in Parliament.
The report of the Shah Commission on illegal mining activities in Odisha, which was first reported by The Pioneer on October 21, 2013, had further noted that curbing illegal mining and recovering the resultant losses proved to be a long haul for the State Government.
Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters that the CoS has been asked to sit together and draw up the ATR. “The report of the Shah Commission, appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, must be placed before Parliament together with an action taken report. The ATR will be drafted by a CoS and then the Cabinet will take a final view on that”, he added.
Astoundingly, the panel found that several mines in Odisha have been operating under “deemed extension” for a period of up to 20 years, as the leases were not renewed under the stipulated time-frame, all of which led to huge losses to the State exchequer. The Commission though had not put a figure to the exact quantum of losses suffered by the State Government.
The Commission, which had been probing illegal mining in various mineral-rich States since January 2011, had submitted its five-volume final report to the Union Mines Ministry five months back and as per rules, it needs to be tabled in the Parliament within six months of its release to the Government.