PANJIM: Despite being pulled up by the High Court for failing to implement the projects towards welfare of people in the mining areas, the State Government has not yet utilised Rs 187 crore collected under the District Mineral Fund (DMF). Goa is among the four states which have not started any project under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY), implemented by the DMF.
The DMF was introduced after the Centre amended the MMDR (Mines and Minerals Development Regulation) Act in 2015 and is collected as royalty and cess for taking up reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) in the mining areas.
“The States which have not started any projects include Goa, Bihar, Kerala and Meghalaya,” the Union Ministry for Mines said in a data released.
“Although Rs 187 crore has been collected, no project has been started. Also the audit of DMF Fund has not been initiated,” Ministry stated.
The Central government-formulated PMKKKY has to be implemented through DMF.
The PMKKKY has mandated 60 percent of the funds has to be utilised for high priority areas such as drinking water / environment preservation and pollution control / health care / education / skill development / welfare of women, children, aged and disabled people / sanitation and 40% of the funds has to be utilised for infrastructure – roads & physical infrastructure / irrigation / watershed development,” the Ministry agenda note reads.
The Bombay High Court at Goa had on several occasions pulled up State government for failing to utilise DMF funds. Following which, Mines Department had asked the village panchayats to submit proposals, especially with regards to water supply.
