The state government is likely to notify the structure of the proposed District Mineral Foundation (DMF) by September this year.
“We have informed the Union mines ministry that the draft Rules for DMF have been prepared and they are going to be approved soon. The DMF structure is expected to be notified latest by September,” said a government official.
The DMF is to be set up in mineral rich districts. The foundation would be chaired by the respective district collector with deputy directors of mines and officials of mining companies operating in the region as members.
The funds accruing to the DMF would be utilised for overall development of the area whose ecology has been degraded by rampant mining. It would come up with CSR (corporate social responsibility) interventions in areas like education, health, roads and drinking water.
Various mineral bearing states are readying plans for the proposed DMF. Andhra Pradesh has decided to notify DMF for 13 districts while in another neighbouring state Chhattisgarh DMF is set to be put in place for all districts. In Gujarat, DMF is coming up in 32 districts whereas Jharkhand and Karnataka have decided to form DMFs in 24 and 30 districts respectively. All these states are likely to finalise DMF structure and constitute them by August this year.
In Odisha, two of the state’s biggest iron ore producing sectors- Joda and Koira are expected to contribute Rs 2,800 crore to the DMF. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) has been mooted to utilise funds contributed to the DMF.
The SPV can focus on areas like infrastructure development, provision of safe and wholesome drinking water to villages in periphery, skill development of the local youth for undertaking various jobs in mining and associated industries and development of healthcare facilities in the surrounding villages.
Stakeholders have suggested that the DMF can have wider representation to ensure that resources are utilised optimally for sustainable development of the targeted areas. The DMF can have representatives from civil society, MP, MLAs and zilla parishad president.
According to the new Mines and Minerals- (Development & Regulation) MMDR Act, the state government shall form DMF trust in all mineral bearing districts where an amount equivalent to the royalty collected from mines will be deposited by lessees. This fund would be utilized for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining related operations .
Section 9B (2) of the Act empowers the state government to prescribe the manner in which DMF would work for the interest and benefit of the affected persons. The foundation is meant for the marginalized people and devastated land of the district where the quality of life and environment stands substantially degraded in recent times due to exponential growth of mining and many other related activities.
Prasanta Patnaik