State hopeful of central mining law exemption

SHILLONG: The state government is optimistic that it can convince both the Mines and Coal ministries to invoke Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule through a presidential notification to exempt Meghalaya from central mining laws.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said recently the state is hopeful that the Centre would take a call on exempting Megha-laya from the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act and the Coal Mines (Nationalisa-tion) Act.
Tynsong said the Supreme Court had sought the views of ministries concerned on how they are going to address the issue of coal mining in Meghalaya and they are expected to submit affidavit in the court during the hearing of a petition by miner Lber Laloo on March 28. “We are hoping that the different ministries will indicate to the apex court on their intention to address the issue concerning the coal mining in the state,” he added.
When asked about the accusation of Congress candidate Vincent H Pala who had questioned the state government on its failure to submit the mining policy to the Supreme Court, Tynsong said the present MDA government is not talking about the issue of mining plan and “we have taken a different approach to address this issue in a more pragmatic manner”.
Pointing to the previous MUA government’s move, Tynsong said it had written to the different ministries to allow Meghalaya Mineral Development Corporation (MMDC) to take over the mining of coal in the state but stakeholders, including land owners, were against the proposal.
“Handing over the mining activities to MMDC would mean we are creating a coal block. It would also mean that the coal would have to be auctioned. The auctioning of coal is against the interest of our people,” he added.