Administration revamp steps initiated

With manpower and infrastructure inadequacies crippling mineral administration in the state, the Orissa government has started a series of measures to address the issues.

It has set in motion the process for appointment of 140 posts in the directorate of mines (DoM) and directorate of geology (DoG) at various levels. The state finance department has approved 100 posts in the DoM and 40 posts in the DoG, sources said. Besides, the state government intends to leverage the available technologies to make the system of mineral administration more objective, transparent and neutral.

The stages where application of technology is possible are the survey of lease boundaries by deploying the appropriate survey technologies, digitization of maps, electronic weigh bridges, automatic generation of weighment slips, weighment of vehicles in motion, aerial surveillance through use of remote sensing, modernisation of check gates and state wide area network for centralised supervision.

The steel and mines department has formed an inter-departmental group (IDG) headed by additional secretary, N K Nayak. It has one DGM of the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), assistant director, directorate of survey and settlement, deputy director (mines) and representative from Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) and Orissa Remote Sensing Application Centre (ORSAC) as members, sources said.

The team would liaise with IIT Kharagpur, various departments and organisations of the state and Central government associated with the mineral administration. This is expected to help in designing a revam package.

Sources said, the group will also facilitate designing an appropriate module, work out a time frame for technology application and suggest indicative costs to the department. IIT Kharagpur has been roped in to design a suitable module of technology application in mining sector. Ashok Dalwai , secretary , steel and mines department of Orissa government recently held one round of discussion with Damodar Achrya, Director, IIT Kharagpur. Acharya has reportedly agreed to provide professional support to put an end to illegal mining activities in the state. Two professors of IIT have been chosen for the job.