Context: A recent report prepared by iForest, an independent research group, flags underutilisation of development and welfare funds collected by the District Mineral Foundations.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: District Mineral Foundation; Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana
Performance of District Mineral Foundation
- Underutilisation of funds: Despite collecting about ₹1 lakh crore in the past decade by the DMF, more than half the funds is unspent.
- Diversion of funds: The funds are often diverted to activities that are not directly linked to the welfare of mining districts — a contravention of the Centre’s guidelines.
Achievements of District Mineral Foundation:
- Decentralised community-centric development works have been carried out in mining affected districts.
- DMF has been instrumental in:
- setting up of women led SHGs in different states for example Odisha.
- skill development and livelihood generation in mining affected districts.
- DMFs have adopted measures, such as, establishing a dedicated engineering department and deputing personnel from the State Public Works Department to ensure the efficient implementation of projects.
- Note: Odisha accounts for the highest share of DMF funds, about 29% (₹30,126 crore) of the country’s total, followed by Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
District Mineral Foundation (DMF):
- Non-profit trusts established under the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) (MMDR) Amendment Act, 2015 in all the districts affected by mining.
- Objective: To work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining related operations.
- The composition and functions of the DMF shall be prescribed by the State Government.
- DMFs ensure that a portion of the revenues generated from mining is spent on the development of the districts. DMFs have been set up in 645 districts in 23 States in the country which have framed DMF rules.
- The holder of a mining lease or a prospecting licence-cum-mining lease granted on or after the date of commencement of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015, shall share some amount of royalty with DMF.
Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana:
- Launched in: 2015
- Initiative of: Ministry of Mines
- Implemented by: District Mineral Foundations of the respective districts.
- Aim: To provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds generated by DMF.
- Objectives:
- implement various developmental and welfare projects in mining affected areas.
- to mitigate the adverse impacts (during and after mining) on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts.
- ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.
- PMKKKY provides for utilisation of at least 70% of the funds for high priority areas like: (i) drinking water supply (ii) environment preservation and pollution control measures (iii) health care (iv) education (v) welfare of women and children (vi) welfare of aged and disabled people (vii) skill development (viii) sanitation ix) housing (x) agriculture and (xi) animal husbandry.
- While, up to 30% of the funds shall be utilised for other priority areas (i) physical infrastructure (ii) irrigation (iii) energy and watershed development and (iv) any other measures for enhancing environmental quality in mining districts.
The prime focus of DMF and PMKKKY is to alleviate poverty and deprivation, which requires a balanced investment in human resources and infrastructure. However, this balance has not been achieved in any district.