National Mineral Policy 2006 - Department of Mines

(iv)(v)(vi)Exploitation of workers without proper safety, health, and welfare measures;Increased role of anti-social elements and criminals;Profiteering by miners without any obligations to the society.6.21 For checking illegal mining there can be no substitute for improved standards ofgovernance. However, it must be acknowledged that the otherwise well-intentioned miningpolicy adopted by the states can also become a contributory factor to illegal mining, asindicated below:(i) By keeping well-known deposits unexploited by not notifying the area or notgranting leases despite there being demand for these deposits;(ii) Refusal to grant renewal of lease by the state governments despite the mine nothaving been exhausted;(iii) Denying permission to work or an arbitrary reduction of lease area in forest landsespecially at the time of renewal. Consequently, many of the areas opened up formining remain unworked and thus attract illegal mining;(iv) State and Central PSUs and captive miners have been granted MLs overextensive areas far beyond the ceiling limits. The state governments have usedtheir special rights under the Act and Rules for this purpose. The lessees have,however, not even bothered to obtain surface right of the areas granted to them.This is because they have taken for granted their right to retain these large areaswithout extracting the minerals. A fallout of this approach is that known depositsin these lands are subjected to illegal mining.If a mineral is easily mineable in an area and if MLs are not granted due to the area beingeither protected or reserved it is likely that the area will fall prey to illegal mining activities.This is particularly likely in the interior, backward, and tribal areas where unemployment ispervasive and the minerals are the only potential source of livelihood for the local population.6.22 The Committee would, therefore, recommend that effective deterrent action should betaken to stop illegal mining. The deterrents in law at present have not worked mainly becauseof the lack of teeth. The penalties should be increased several fold and so should thepunishments. Illegal mining amounts to stealing of public property and should be a non-131