Mines ministry urges DMF funds audit; only Chhattisgarh completes process

The Union mines ministry has urged state governments to carry out an audit of funds accruing to the District Mineral Foundation (DMF).  

No state has prepared the annual reports on fund utilisation under DMF as mandated by the guidelines contained in the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY). Many of the DMFs are yet to be registered.  

The ministry is of the view that compliance with the regulatory framework, monitoring and guidelines on expenditure are critical to the success of DMF and its purpose. 

Acting on the ministry's call, some states have initiated the process of identifying empanelled chartered accountants for audit of DMF funds. Data from the mines ministry showed that the Chhattisgarh government has completed the audit in all districts in accordance with the guidelines of PMKKY. The Madhya Pradesh government is planning a complete audit of all districts. In Maharashtra, statutory auditors have been appointed, though the audit is yet to take off. The Odisha government, which boasts of the biggest DMF collections, is planning to appoint an auditor to carry out the audit of its funds.        

On its part, the mines ministry is readying a portal to collect data on projects and track the status of funds spent under DMF. 

The Union mines secretary has proposed a study on effective utilisation of funds under PMKKKY guidelines by an independent agency to help improve the functioning of DMFs.   

At the end of March 2018, collections under DMF from 21 states totalled Rs 184.67 billion. Odisha pips other states, mopping up Rs 43.04 billion. Of the overall DMF collection in all states, Rs 106.99 billion has been allocated for 59,654 projects where work has commenced or is under process.