COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN 2008 & 2019 NATIONAL MINERAL POLICIES
INTRODUCTION
In the
beginning of 2019 during the end of financial year, the government brought in a
new National Mineral Policy (NMP) that replaced the earlier 2008
Policy.
The new
policy, referring specifically to non-coal and non-fuel minerals, confirms that
a larger part of results were expected from the policy proposals is to
“increase the production of major minerals by 200 per cent in 7 years”. The
goal is attached to the present Government’s Make in India initiative
and to advance India’s economic growth.
While the
important aspect of this latest policy is to level up the domestic mineral
production and limiting the trade deficits in the mineral sector keeping in
view for the next 7 years, apart from addressing the fundamental problems in
the sector.
In 2017,
the Apex Court directed for a new MNP while it was involved in judgements of
Odisha related mining activities. The destruction of environment and forests
hampered critically to the tribals were some of the important observations made
by the Court.
It was
further observed by the Court that there is a dearth of effective check on
mining operations and policies which can pave the way for the right kind of
framework. It has been observed that the NMP 2008[1]
“seems to be only on paper and is not being enforced perhaps due to the
involvement of very powerful vested interests or a failure of nerve”.
[2]It was
also observed that the 2008 Policy was too dated to deal with the challenges of
the day including “rapacious mining in several parts of the country”. Thus,
the Court asked the government to reconsider the NMP of 2008, and “announce
a fresh, more effective, meaningful and implementable policy”.
This
sector has been dealing with issues of unscientific mining, negative register
of environmental and social performance, and high incidences of illegal
activities. The regulatory environment, and capacity and accountability of our authorities,
have also confirmed about the same.
REASONS FOR FAILURE OF 2008 NMP
So the
National Mineral Policy of 2008 squarely looked at the issue of exploration.
There was always a risk involved. Mineral exploitation had to be responsive to
changing global economic scenario. The mineral exploitation should have taken
industry needs into consideration. But, that was missing in this NMP.
Moreover,
scientific and detailed prospecting should have been carried out in search of
mineral resources. This was a major drawback of this NMP.
The
concept of balancing growth and economic sustainability was a major concern in
the mining industry and this remains to be ignored back then.
Another
important con of this NMP was that lot of time was taken for land approvals,
forest and environmental clearances in terms of mining activities. This led to
delay in further proceeding with the paperwork.
FEATURES OF NMP 2019[3]
·
Popular on the economic front.
This
policy has been making headlines for all the “good for the finances” reasons.
Being on a positive side for the companies related to mining and similar
investors, the question arises, “can it be really that effective as it claims
to be in environment protection and restoring the community people’s rights in
the mining locations?” This remains to be seen.
·
EMZ or Exclusive Mining Zones to
be brought into existence & Relaxation of Licenses/Clearances
Declaring
the licensing or the approval of clearance process on a faster basis is itself
being emphasized a lot in the policy. But the issue remains regarding the
quality of clearances being given. Like, how far the licenses can be justified?
·
No proper mention regarding Pollution
of the Environment
It is not
a new thing to have immense amount of pollution in the mining areas. But, the
new policy fails to acknowledge the concerns regarding the same. There is a
lack of clear understanding as far the latest policy is concerned with regard
to this matter. The “closing of mines” is another relevant issue which is yet
to be addressed in the right manner.
·
Matters pertaining to the local
community has been raised but practical aspects have to be looked into
With the
help of the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and the [4]Right
to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013, the policy has surely taken care of the
issues in hand regarding the compensation and rehabilitation of the people
affected by mining activities. But, this document fails to analyse and address
the fact that all the problematic areas and provisions are inter-related. Only
when the needs of the affected people are met, the policy would be a success on
a public level. The closure of the mines, the approval of the clearances with
transparency is co-related. This has to be understood by the policy makers. It
remains to be seen how far can these areas be addressed on a practical level.
CONCLUSION
The major
takeaway of my research and analysis over this comparison of both the National
Mineral Policies (2008 & 2019) is that the latter looks very good on paper
as of now. But, the question remains is how far will it be able to justify and
implement the promises which has been mentioned in the latest policy? The fact
that the 10 % of the entire revenue earned from the mining activities of a
particular place is to be given to the concerned district in question, remains
to be seen in reality. Who is going to check this and if at all this is checked
on a regular basis, will there be enough transparency involved in the entire
process?
Secondly,
database of mining activities has to be kept. This is mentioned in the policy.
But, a huge revamp should take place in the mining sector so as to accommodate
this feature efficiently. The “Make in India” campaign in itself is a
challenge, now the “Digital India” enforcement drive across such departments
and ministries has also to be taken care of on a serious note so as to maintain
the correct form of database.
Imparting
skills and education to the locals of the said districts involved in mining
again looks beautiful from the outside. Will it be that easy for the officials
to take care of this in the coming future? This activity alone requires special
attention and would be a time consuming factor. Who is going to look after this
activity in general?
Given the
state of affairs we are in as of now, we can only watch the situation unfold
with the help of this latest notification of the mineral policy.
REFERENCES
2. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/mining/will-the-new-national-mineral-policy-ensure-responsible-mining--63741
3. Rajya Sabha Debates on NMP 2019 (Policy watch)
Comments
Post a Comment