A robust new law to regulate mining in India is overdue. The proposed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 is the central government's response to a full-blown crisis in the sector. There are several serious issues that the legislation promises to address, such as sharing of profits with project-affected people, environmental sustainability, competitive bidding to improve returns to States, and transparency in grant of permits. A major challenge the law must confront is illegal mining. Under the federal structure, the State governments are the owners of minerals located within their boundaries and issue mining leases under the empowering Central law, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. As recent experience has shown, the law is virtually a dead letter; and illegal extraction, transfer, and export of millions of tonnes of minerals, including iron ore, has become rampant. This loot of finite natural resources has gone on despite the powers available to the State governments under Section 23(C) of the 1957 Act to stop the practice. It is not just that they have failed to act; they have egregiously aided the activity in some cases. The reluctant arrests of influential politicians in Karnataka and Goa point to the rot.
The enquiry by the Justice M.B. Shah Commission instituted by the Centre to go into illegal mining must be unsparing and present the complete truth. It is vital that the Commission unravel the factors that facilitated massive unlawful appropriation of public wealth. This will aid investigation of specific cases and prosecution of the guilty. There are also pointers to the unethical tactics adopted by mining companies to smother and even co-opt opposition. In some instances, they have ploughed funds into communities, inducting local labour to create a sense of prosperity. The consequential environmental destruction, loss of agriculture, and harm to public health have been staggering. The State governments have not been serious about constituting State Coordination-and-Empowered Committees, as suggested by the Centre. These panels should include representatives from the Railways, Ports, and Customs to check the movement of minerals. Many States have formed task forces for enforcement only on paper. The result has been all too predictable. Union Minister Dinsha J. Patel has told Parliament that there were 43,317 illegal mining cases in 2010 up to September compared with 41,578 for the whole of 2009. The new legislation, which provides for speedier and effective prosecution of the guilty through special courts, must be enacted quickly and used by all States to do justice to the people of India.
