Ensure adequate staff to curb illegal mining: Centre to states

Development comes in the wake of the Centre noting woefully poor conditions in Jharkhand with regard to measures being taken to limit illegal mining

Mineral-rich states should ensure there is adequate staff in departments concerned to curb illegal mining which causes huge revenue losses, the Centre has said.

The development comes in the wake of the Centre noting the "woefully poor" conditions in Jharkhand with regard to measures being taken to limit illegal mining, including a staff crunch in the Mines Directorate.

"While on one hand the state of Rajasthan has undertaken an exemplary initiative for curbing illegal mining by constituting a special task force in every district, the situation in some states like Jharkhand is woefully poor with skeletal staffing in the directorate of mining," according to an official document.

The Ministry of Mines, which recently reviewed the status of illegal mining in states, has asked them to accord priority to having adequate staff to curb illegal mining for their own benefit.

"While the state governments faced a serious challenge in strengthening the state machinery by augmenting manpower for want of adequate budgetary resources and curbs imposed on creation of additional posts, some states like Gujarat have taken recourse to innovative measures like employing staff on contractual basis," the document says, quoting Mines Secretary R H Khwaja.

The directions to states assume significance in the wake of the report by the Justice MB Shah Commission of Inquiry, which said last month that minerals worth about Rs 60,000 crore were illegally mined in Odisha alone during 2008-2011.

The first part of the government-appointed Commission's report, running in five volumes, said most of the mining activities in the mineral-rich state were carried out in disregard to rules, regulations and environmental norms.

"States which have rich mineral deposits should understand that illegal mining results in loss of revenue and other realisations to the state," the Mines Secretary emphasised in the document.

The secretary also sought details regarding the value of minerals in states vis-a-vis manpower strength in directorates with a view to advise on "a viable structure of the directorates to bring in efficiency in curbing illegal mining and to facilitate explorations activities.