Stopping mining projects no solution to help displaced: FM

At a time when a GoM is considering a proposal to give 26 per cent profit of mining projects to tribals..

At a time when a GoM is considering a proposal to give 26 per cent profit of mining projects to tribals,finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said though people being displaced due to mining activities should be made beneficiary in economic development,solution does not lie in completely stopping such projects.

Answer does not lie in completely stopping the mining activities. The answer lies in providing alternatives to those who will be displaced,those who will suffer,in what form we can compensate them and make them the beneficiary of the economic development. That is the challenge and we are addressing that issue, the finance minister said at a Coal Summit here.

The issue of mining has snowballed into a raging controversy ever since the environment ministry rejected the earlier clearances given to Vedantas Rs 70,000-crore bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa on the grounds of violating green and tribal norms. Moreover,the issue also got a political colour after Rahul Gandhi,general secretary of the Congress,backed the tribals cause in Niyamgiri hills,which is home to Dongria Kondh tribe.

The government is already in the process of framing a new mining legislation for displaced. A Group of Ministers GoM,for the purpose,headed by Mukherjee,has proposed,among other things,that companies should share 26 per cent of their profit from mining with those displaced.

The mines ministry is preparing the final draft of the bill and the GoM is expected to meet soon for clearing it. During the summit,Mukherjee also asked coal companies to make investment in coal washing to realise better returns in the long run.

In our medium term plan we should emphasise on coal washing. The moment we supply washed coal to the end users,I think we can charge little more8230; therefore more investment in this aspect will be paying in the long term, he said.

Referring to environmental challenges,the finance minister said world over there is an increasing demand of going for clean energy but developed countries will have to bear in mind that,they owe a responsibility to the Third World because for over 200 years the responsibility of adversely affecting the climate is not the contribution of developing countries but substantially it is the contribution of the developed countries.

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He added that India has to meet the compelling demand of providing electricity,which,even after 63 years of independence,has been denied to almost 300 million people. That aspect is also to be kept in view and it cannot be simply ignored, he said.