Andhra Pradesh government spent less than half of funds collected via Mineral Trusts in 5 years

The DMFTs were established as a non-profit body by the State governments in every district affected by mining activities.

Mining companies contribute a fixed percentage on the royalty amount that they pay to the government to the trust in the district they are operating.

VIJAYAWADA: A meagre Rs 404 crore of the Rs 1,325 crore collected through the District Mineral Fund Trusts (DMFTs) in a span of five years was utilised in the State. Majority of the amount utilised was on ‘high priority works’ rather than ‘other priority works’ unlike Telangana which spent more on ‘other priority works’.

The DMFTs were established as a non-profit body by the State governments in every district affected by mining activities. These trusts were formed as per the Mine and Minerals Development Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2015. Mining companies contribute a fixed percentage on the royalty amount that they pay to the government to the trust in the district they are operating.

The Union Ministry of Mines, in a response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by advocate Sravan Kumar K recently, gave details of the funds collected by the trusts and the works taken up under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshethra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) with the fund.

According to the Union Ministry of Mines, the trusts in Andhra Pradesh collected Rs 1,325.99 crore between September 2015 and August 2021. The trusts were formed in all the 13 districts of the State and the highest of Rs 296.39 crore was collected in Kadapa district followed by Rs 223.02 crore in Kurnool. The lowest of Rs 18.32 crore was collected in West Godavari district.

Not even half of the amount was utilised and just Rs 404.93 crore was spent, the Union Ministry of Mines said, quoting the data given by the State. The trusts in neighbouring Telangana collected Rs 3,021 crore (till July 2021) and spent Rs 1,587.33 crore.The funds are utilised on schemes to uplift the mining-affected communities, particularly tribals, as they too have the right to benefit from the natural resources extracted from the places they live.

The PMKKKY specifies 60 per cent of the spending of the funds on ‘high priority’ areas such as drinking water supply, environment preservation and pollution control measures, health, education, welfare of women and children, aged and disabled people, skill development, sanitation and others.

In Andhra Pradesh, 8,087 works were taken up covering high priority sectors and of them, the highest of 2,647 works were taken up to provide drinking water supply and 2,553 works related to the education sector.

Another 6,608 works were taken up on other priority sectors like providing physical infrastructure, irrigation, energy and watershed development and other measures for enhancing environmental quality in mining districts.