NGT ban on coal mining in State
New Delhi: The ongoing ban on coal mining in Meghalaya might have severely affected the socio-economic life of the common people but the Centre and the state Government are engaged in a tug of war blaming each other for the muddle.
In a letter to the Shillong MP Vincent H Pala, Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said that Meghalaya Government has not yet submitted the proposal seeking exemption under Sixth Schedule to his ministry. “Once the proposal is received it would be examined by both the Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Legal Affairs for further action,” he said.
The Meghalaya Government was to submit the proposal following a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries which held its meeting in September.
But Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had said on a number of occasions that the Centre should invoke Paragraph 12 (A) (b) of the Sixth Schedule through a Presidential notification so that Central laws in the State relating to mining are repealed. “Central laws are in conflict with our customary rights, but there is a way out provided Paragraph 12 (A) (b) of the Sixth Schedule is invoked,” he had stated.
According to the Chief Minister, the past governments had never taken recourse to the particular Para of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. “Now is the time when we will take recourse to the particular Para,” he had added.
The ban on rat hole mining in Meghalaya imposed by the National Green Tribunal on April 17 this year has had varied ramifications in the State. Goyal also pointed out that the Meghalaya Government has not sent any information about the second meeting of the expert group scheduled to be held at Shillong. Pala who is spearheading the movement to rescind the ban had led a delegation to President Pranab Mukherjee to invoke 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution so that application of Central laws relating to mining can be rescinded through a Presidential notification. This will enable the state government to regulate mining activities in accordance with Meghalaya Mines and Minerals Policy, 2012. The paragraph 12 (A) relates to application of Acts of Parliament and of the Legislature of the State of Meghalaya to autonomous districts and autonomous regions in the State of Meghalaya. The paragraph 12A(b) deals with President’s power to exempt application of any Union law to an autonomous district or an autonomous region in the State of Meghalaya.