PANAJI
Amid concerns over the misuse and slow utilisation of district mineral funds, the North Goa District Mineral Foundation Trust (NGDMFT) has approved a framework to prepare a five-year Perspective Plan to ensure systematic and need-based utilisation of funds in mining-affected areas.
The Perspective Plan will be prepared through consultations with government departments, local governing bodies and mining-affected communities. The Trust will also undertake surveys and use available data to identify the needs of affected people before finalising the framework.
Under the proposed plan, approved during the last meeting of the Managing Committee, priority sectors will be identified, percentage allocations will be fixed for different sectors and the type and nature of interventions to be undertaken over the five-year period will be determined. The Perspective Plan will subsequently be placed before the Governing Council (GC) for consideration. An Annual Action Plan will thereafter be prepared and submitted to the GC for approval at the beginning of every year. Government departments will have to submit project proposals in line with the approved plan, while the Managing Committee will scrutinise and sanction eligible projects based on the identified priorities. “The proposed system is aimed at speeding up project approvals, improving planning, ensuring need-based interventions and promoting equitable distribution of NGDMFT funds,” sources said. The move assumes significance as DMF guidelines prohibit funding projects that do not directly benefit mining-affected communities. These include panchayat buildings, renovation of gymnasiums, government offices and officers’ quarters, statues and memorials, helipads, leisure facilities for officials, foreign travel, overseas education scholarships and purchase of vehicles or mobile phones for officials or DMF offices.
Commercial ventures such as shopping malls, multiplexes, entertainment parks, private industrial parks and SEZs are also barred from DMF funding.
“Despite this, several proposals are being mooted to the DMF for funding. In the past, some proposals were even cleared, but now the Trust is stricter in fund allocation,” sources said. The DMF was introduced under Section 20A of the MMDR Ac t in 2015 as a welfare mechanism for communities affected by mining. However, utilisation of DMF funds in Goa has remained sluggish. Data shows that against a total of Rs 244.71 crore available with the North Goa DMF and the Kushavati DMF, only Rs 60.53 crore has been spent so far.
