Ordinance to reform the mining sector will do more harm than good
SOON AFTER President Pranab Mukherjee signed the ordinance to amend the archaic Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957, Union minister for steel and mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, announced it is a revolutionary step towards reviving the country’s mining sector.
His ministry highlighted that the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 will address problems that have been plaguing the sector for long. These include granting mineral leases in discretionary, non-transparent and delayed ways, problems in renewal of mining leases, illegal mining activities, reluctance to undertake exploration and investment in the sector, and grievance of the civil society that the mining-affected people are not cared for. But these problems are not new and ways to address most of them have long been debated by the country’s intelligentsia. This includes the report of the High Level Committee on National Mineral Policy in 2006 by the Planning Commission. In 2011, the then government led by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) introduced a bill to reform MMDR Act, 1957 which later lapsed.
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