BHUBANESWAR: As the Odisha government pumps in the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds in non-priority areas, the Centre has asked the State to strictly adhere to the provisions of DMF Rules formulated under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
The Mines Ministry’s latest order is clear. “It has come to the notice of the Central Government that there are instances where a part of the funds of the DMF are being transferred to the State treasury/consolidated fund of the State or Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or schemes,” said the order issued to all states.
Such transfer of funds from DMF to State level agency defeats the very purpose of depositing the contribution and setting up DMF at district level. Therefore, transfer of any part of the fund of District Mineral Foundations to any State level entity for its utilisation is violation of the provision of section 9B of the Act, the order further said.
In Odisha, the DMF fund has been spent for a variety of purposes. The State Cabinet approved a proposal for construction of an international stadium in Rourkela to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup-2023 out of DMF fund of Sundargarh district.
In 2020, the district administration purchased 25 police patrolling vehicles for Rourkela city. While DMF fund was used to construct the boundary walls of the Circuit House, the district administration used the fund for integrated traffic management. The Sundargarh Collector also sought approval of the government to build surveillance infrastructure to check road accidents, out of DMF fund.
The Transport department had also asked collectors of other districts to take up similar projects from this mineral fund. Even DMF fund of Keonjhar district was utilised to create a patient facilitation centre in Cuttack. The Odisha DMF Rules prescribes that 60 per cent (pc) of the fund should be utilised in high priority sectors and 40 pc in other priority activities in areas affected by mining.
The Ministry has objected to sanction or approval of any expenditure out of the fund at the State level by the government with a warning that the proviso to sub-section (3) of Section 9B of the Act states that the Central Government may give directions regarding composition and utilisation of DMF fund. In the current financial year, the government has so far collected Rs 6,104.46 crore DMF fund out of which projects worth Rs 6,438.2 have been sanctioned.
Utilisation in Odisha
The State Cabinet had approved a proposal for construction of an international stadium in Rourkela
In 2020 Sundargarh district admin had purchased 25 police patrolling vehicles
DMF fund of Keonjhar district was utilised to create a patient facilitation centre in Cuttack
The fund was also used to construct boundary walls of the Circuit House in Sundargarh