SHILLONG, Nov 16: Five pressure groups have questioned the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the state government for the granting of prospecting licenses or mining leases for coal in Meghalaya.
These groups are the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC), Hynniewtrep A’chik National Movement (HANM), Confederation of Ri-Bhoi People (CoRP), East Jaintia National Council (EJNC) and Jaintia Student Movement (JSM).
In a memorandum submitted to both Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, these groups said the MDA government should amend the office memo issued on March 5 relating to the SOPs.
HYC president Robertjune Kharjahrin told reporters that a clause in the office memo says any application for a prospective license shall be for an area not less than 100 hectares.
“This is totally unacceptable, as only a very few tribal landowners will have possession of or ownership over so much land. The clause will deprive people owning less than 100 hectares of earning a livelihood through coal mining,” he said.
This clause will allow or encourage the big companies and some bigwigs to acquire huge chunks of land to further monopolise the coal business while small miners will not be in a position to be in the coal mining business, he added.
Kharjahrin said this will create wealth disparity or improper distribution of wealth, which will impact inclusive growth.
“We are of the opinion that this clause is unrealistic keeping in mind the geographical nature of our hills and also the fact that there is multi-layered ownership of land with ownership of more than 100 hectares of land being next to impossible,” he said.
Citing Rule 22D of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 (as amended), issued by the Controller General of the Nagpur-based Indian Bureau of Mines, Kharjahrin said the minimum area for grant of mining lease in respect of minerals should ideally be four hectares.
He questioned the basis on which the state government came up with the SOPs for granting coal mining leases.
“Therefore, this clause should be amended to suit the local situation. We suggest the granting of a mining lease for an area smaller than what has been notified,” Kharjahrin said.
He also referred to a clause in the SOPs allowing a landowner and an applicant to merely sign an agreement to be eligible for a prospecting licence or mining lease.
This clause should be amended to allow only tribal people to make an agreement among themselves and no non-tribal should be allowed to enter into an agreement with a tribal landowner for applying for a coal mining licence, the HYC leader said.
The demand for keeping non-tribal people out of the agreement is in line with the customary land tenure system in the state and the Meghalaya Transfer of Land Regulation Act.
“This clause provides a space for people to indulge in Benami activities. It needs to be amended too,” he said.
