Thar village mines its own business

Like several other villages in Thar Desert, Kharantia Panchayat of Barmer is facing its ninth consecutive drought this year. But its sarpanc...

Like several other villages in Thar Desert, Kharantia Panchayat of Barmer is facing its ninth consecutive drought this year. But its sarpanch, Kirta Ram, is not a worried man.

Though the golden-brown fields in his village are barren and the ponds are fast drying up, Kirta Ram is confident that his village will not have to ‘‘beg in front of the government’’ for relief and survival this year.

‘‘We are no longer at their mercy. Our izzat,’’ he says tapping his colourful Marwari paag (turban) ‘‘will now remain in our hands.’’

Kirta Ram’s confidence comes from a piece of paper pasted on the noticeboard of his panchayat.

On June 6 this year, barely a few days after he mastered a wavy, wind-shaken signature, Kirta Ram put his name in bold below a declaration that could rewrite the future of his village.

The declaration, made unanimously by the panchayats, gives them decisive rights over the only natural resource in their village—the mines.

For years, the miners’ lobby has exploited the large reserves of limestone and masonry material here, without giving anything in return to its people. But starting this winter, miners will have to pay a hefty tax to the panchayat.

The resolution passed by the panchayat says:

• Fifty per cent of the royalty earned from the mining licences will be passed to the panchayat. The villagers will utilise this money to develop local infrastructure.

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• There will be a clearly demarcated area for mining in the masterplan of the villages.

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	Mining for village welfare

	• Miners’ lobby has been exploiting large reserves of limestone without giving anything in return to villagers • Now fifty per cent of the royalty earned from mining licences will be passed to the panchayat • Villagers to use money for infrastructure, drought relief work

The mining lease will be given with the consent of the panchayats.

• Miners will plant trees and pay for their maintenance in the area identified by the panchayats to compensate for the loss in biodiversity in the area.

• Machinisation will not be allowed. Instead, locals will be employed as mine labour.

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With the mining royalties fixed between Rs 60 and Rs 30 per tonne, the villagers hope to earn around Rs 25 lakh every year through the new tax. This money, though small, will help the panchayat give employment to its people and start drought relief work, something that was, till recently, the prerogative of the government.

The resolution has swept through the Thar like a duststorm. Already six other panchayats in Barmer and Jaisalmer—Jethwai, Sanu, Joga, Sanfa, Raghva and Sarnu—have passed similar resolutions. And many more are likely to follow.

‘‘Now we will become masters of our own fate,’’ says Kana Ram, chairperson of the Jethwai cooperative society which will regulate local mining and raise taxes in their panchayat.