Public influence After-effect of Vidarbha Vikas Manthan dialogue Government policy
   Date :29-Oct-2023

Vidarbha Vikas Manthan
 
 
 
Staff Reporter  
 
Maharashtra Government is likely to release the State Mineral Policy soon, as deliberations on various issues have been held over the past some time. During the Vidarbha Vikas Manthan dialogue held in July earlier this year at Nagpur, several aspects were discussed, which also may find reflection in the policy to be unveiled soon. The important suggestions made during Vidarbha Vikas Manthan dialogue organised by Vivek SPARC Foundation in collaboration with Vidarbha Economic Development (VED) Council, included those about forest and environment clearance, incentives for value-addition industries, regular supply of electricity at subsidised rates, and some related to District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund. Mahesh Pohnerkar, Chief Executive Officer, Vivek SPARC Foundation, told ‘The Hitavada’ that since the dialogue meeting held at Nagpur, some follow-up meetings were held with appropriate authorities and efforts are on to get included some of the suggestions made by stakeholders in the upcoming State Mineral Policy, as well as some other areas concerning development in Vidarbha. “The policy is likely to be announced soon, and we hope that the suggestions find a place in it,” he said.
 
The organisers of Vidarbha Vikas Manthan suggested that the State Government should procure ‘Stage-1’ forest clearance before issuing order of grant/letter of intent with respect to mining industries. For ‘State-1’ forest clearance no amount is required to be paid, the stakeholders had added. Besides, it was suggested that during the public hearing for grant of environmental clearance, only the residents of village in radius up to 5 km from the proposed project should be allowed as per the guidelines of Ministry of Environment and Forest. Others, including the NGOs, should be allowed to lodge their grievances through appropriate portal. An important suggestion was that the State Government should ensure that appropriate authorities make available ‘minimum five mineral blocks per year’ with ‘pre-embedded clearance’, for auction as per the directives under Section 20A of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
 
Another suggestion was about promoting the mineral consuming industries to start manufacturing high-value products within Maharashtra. It would not only yield higher revenue for the State Government but also generate employment in rural and remote areas, it was felt. For such industries, incentives should be offered through the upcoming policy.
As far as DMF fund is concerned, Pohnerkar said, “We have urged the State Government to specify in State Mineral Policy the fields where the fund could be utilised in the interest or benefit of persons affected by mining operations. While suggesting that the Trust created by DMF should include at least one member from mining industry, we stressed that the amount collected under DMF should be utilised for construction or maintenance of public road used frequently for transportation of minerals extracted from mines.”
 
Also, the related inputs given to the State Government included developing Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondia, Yavatmal, and Nagpur as centres for MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprises) for derived mineral products; exploring Gadchiroli as steel processing zone; considering Bhandara’s potential as a fero-alloy processing zone and Yavatmal’s as a lime dolomite processing zone; and coming up with an integrated policy to enhance relations between the industry and academia. “We had also made some more suggestions relating to other sectors. An important suggestion relating to water conservation was to initiate Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jaldayini Yojana to repair about 350 ex-Malgujari tanks this year to mark the occasion of 350 years of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation ceremony,” Pohnerkar added.