Stop reckless & illegal mining,says parliamentary panel
Committee On Public Undertakings Wants National Wealth Preserved,Transparent Lease Process
Committee On Public Undertakings Wants National Wealth Preserved,Transparent Lease Process
A PARLIAMENTARY panel has taken a serious view of reckless export of minerals and illegal mining,has asked the government to ban injudicious export of natural resources and make grant of mining leases more transparent.
Examining the functioning of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL),the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant,the Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU) has expressed concern over illegal mining.
In its report on RINL functioning,tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday,CoPU said: The Committee noted,with concern,the twin menaces of reckless export of minerals and illegal mining.The committee found it quite disturbing to note the trend of exporting minerals particularly of iron ore.
CoPU observed that internationally most countries try to conserve minerals for later use and procure them from other countries.Our mineral wealth certainly cannot be frittered away for meagre sums to be paid as royalty to fatten the purses of a few private individuals of our companies.Hence it would be unwise and callous on our part to fritter away such valuable resources which we may in the future require for own industrial purposes,including defence requirements.
The parliamentary committee headed by Congress Lok Sabha MP V Kishore Chandra Deo observed that the government should find out how much natural resources and minerals have been legally used and illegally mined.The panel has also suggested a course of action to conserve minerals.The injudicious export of natural resources like iron ore and coal need to be banned, the report said.
CoPU has also suggested that the government should have a re-look at the National Mineral Policy.In view of the emerging scenario of depletion of precious resources like minerals owing to injudicious export and illegal mining,the committee emphasises upon the need to revisit the National Mineral Policy for effectively addressing these issues.
Apart from a macro picture,CoPU has specifically examined the functioning of RINL.It has observed that RINL is the only integrated steel plant among public sector undertakings that does not have captive iron ore and coal mines.CoPU has termed this as the primary challenge facing RINL.The panel has said,The committee strongly desires rightful allocations of minerals such as iron ore and coal to public sector undertakings,which have been choked due to constraint of these resources.
CoPU has also said that there was a need to make the procedure of mining leases more transparent.The committee has further recommended that a standardised procedure for processing mining lease applications,applicable in all states,must be seriously considered by the government to make the process more transparent and expedient, the report has said.
NATURAL CONCERNS
The House panel finds Rashtriya Ispat Nigam the only integrated steel plant among PSUs without captive iron ore and coal mines and terms this the PSUs primary challenge The panel,headed by V Kishore Chandra Deo,noted the practice adopted by most countries to conserve minerals for later use and procure them from other countries and advised government not to fritter away valuable resources