SHILLONG: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has maintained that he had proposed the erstwhile UPA government to exempt the operational part of a section of the Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973 through Presidential notification as per Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Para 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule states, “the President may, with respect to any Act of Parliament, by notification, direct that it shall not apply to an autonomous district or an autonomous region in the State of Meghalaya, or shall apply to such district or region or any part thereof subject to such exceptions or modifications as he may specify in the notification and any such direction may be given so as to have retrospective effect.”
He informed reporters that he met former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2014, who told Sangma that the matter would be examined further and put up for necessary decision.
Sangma informed “The Act that governs the ownership of coal is the Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973 in which relevant sections indicated that government of India is the owner of the coal mines.”
In this connection, Sangma said that the state government had taken up the issue with the government of India which then constituted a committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to examine the proposal of the state government as per the provision of the Constitution of India.
Other members of the Committee are Secretaries of relevant Ministries of Forest and Environment, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Mine and the Chief Secretary.
Shedding light on the provisions of Coal Mines Nationalization Act, he said, “Now as per the law of the land, if you have to apply for mining, you have to get the mining lease. The law says that the ownership has been vested with the government of India, that is why we had taken up with Government of India to invoke Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.”
“So that the relevant provision of the act and also relevant provisions of the Meghalaya Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (MMDC), 1957, is exempted from its operation in respect of the scheduled areas of Meghalaya through a Presidential notification rescinding the provision of the act,” he added.
Having met Dr Singh who told Sangma that the matter to exempt the provision of the Central Act from Meghalaya, would be examined, Sangma said, “Immediately, notification was subsequently issued and a number of developments had taken place. Now what prevents the government of BJP to further examining this? ”
“Are they then intentionally blocking it? That means they are conniving to deprive our people from the benefit of the provision of the Constitution,” he added.
“I pity them for their bankruptcy of ideas”, Sangma said even as he elucidated the steps taken by the government as far as coal mining ban by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is concern.
Defending the state government on the issue of coal mining, Sangma maintained that the state government would come up with effective and comprehensive mining policy to enable scientific mining prior to 2014, the year in which the NGT banned the coal mining in the state.
“This responsibility of an elected government was not attended to by the governments in the preceding years because nobody wanted to regulate coal mining activity in spite of the fact that there are certain challenges like the intervention of the judiciary or tribunal,” he said.
Stating that the state government has come up with a policy which was notified in 2012, he said, “This was again misused to malign the party and the government saying that the mining policy will alienate ….”
“Even now the misinformation campaign is going on and warned the people of such misinformation campaign,” he said.
Highlighting on the mining imbroglio vis-à-vis the law, he said, “As far as coal mining is concern as it is governed by Meghalaya Mineral Development Corporation Limited (MMDC) Act, 1957 and its amended form, that coal mines have to be auctioned if it is to be given to the private miners.”
“If we are talking about restoring the rights of the people which the state government is standing for, are they then trying to snatch away this right?” he remarked.
He added, “If this is intentional from the way they (BJP) are saying, do they mean to say that they are quietly influencing the ministries, the decision makers.”
Pointing to another parameter, Sangma said that if mining lease is not available for any private parties, mining lease can be given to any state government companies, undertakings.
Commenting about a letter in 1987 from the Central government which stated that government of India did not want to interfere as far as traditional mining in the state was concern and the rights over mining activities.
However, it has an advisory that the state government may utilize the services of either Coal India or MMDC to facilitate scientific mining keeping in mind the need to do in conformity with the statutory laws in respect of environment safety and health.
On the question of land alienation, Sangma said, “After the mining activities are completed, the mine closure and reclamation has to be done. After having been reclaimed the land will be returned to then land and the mine owners so where is this question of land alienation.”
“Some people think that our people can be misled all the time, fooled all the time, They are cheating the people,” he said.