Illegal mining, new Act to dominate EGoM meet today

A meeting of the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on mining headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherje, slated for Thursday, is expected to be stormy, especially in the wake of the controversy over alleged illegal mining by the Reddy brothers in Karnataka.

“Against this backdrop, EGoM would deliberate at length various provisions of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act. The government would get adequate powers to control illegal mining, which goes unabated in various states. Thus, the idea is to get EGoM’s approval and subsequently seek the passage of the Act in the coming monsoon session of Parliament,” central government sources told Business Standard.

The meeting is important as the Karnataka government has given a clean chit to Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy and Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy, but at the same time, requested the ombudsman to probe all the mining cases since 2003.

The sources said various state governments had appealed to the Centre to increase their powers in curbing illegal mining by allowing the confiscation power similar to the Essential Commodities Act, since the courts normally allow operators to be let off easily.

It was also suggested that State Mining Administrative Tribunals could be empowered to take up the cases of illegal mining and impose penalty or fines.

However, they said the Centre had already asked state governments to use remote-sensing equipment and satellite images for curbing illegal mining. States have also been asked to coordinate with the Indian Bureau of Mines in this regard.

The Bill, which has been pending in Parliament for the last two years, has proposed a 26 per cent equity shareholding for the land losers.