The proposed amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, pose a serious threat to national security and the reforms will destroy public sector companies, N.K. Premachandran, MP, said at a press meet here on Friday.
“The proposal to remove some names from the list of atomic minerals while empowering the Centre to give sanction for mining certain critical minerals is an encroachment on the powers vested with the States under List 2 of the Seventh Schedule. Through this, the Union government is usurping the power of the State governments to issue mining permits,” he said.
8 groups of minerals
As per the proposal, eight out of 12 group of minerals will be omitted from Part B of the first Schedule of MMDR Act. They include beryl and other beryllium-bearing minerals, lithium-bearing minerals, minerals of the ‘rare earths’ group containing uranium and thorium, niobium- bearing minerals, titanium-bearing minerals and ores (ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene), tantallium-bearing minerals, zirconium-bearing minerals and ores including zircon and beach sand minerals. It has been proposed to create a new part D in the first Schedule (critical & strategic minerals) and the place the eight minerals along with others like indium, gallium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and tin.
‘Attempt to privatise’
Alleging that the proposal is an attempt to privatise the critical sector and please the mining lobby, Mr. Premachandran said some among the eight minerals had great strategic importance. “The amendments will ruin the PSUs including Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd. (KMML), Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) and Travancore Titanium Products Ltd (TTPL). As per MMDR Act and Mineral Concessions Rules, mining and the manufacture of value-added products should remain in the public sector. Through the proposals it will be easy to make space for the private sector.”
On State’s ‘silence’
The amendments will empower the Union government, along with the State governments, to sanction mining rights of minerals listed under Part D of the first schedule. The MP added that the silence of the State government in the issue was serious and suspicious. “The Centre is trying to snatch the power of State and open gates for private parties. Instead of marking their protest, they have been remaining silent. By remaining silent, the State government is supporting the amendments. The State government should take a strong stand and intervene in the matter,” he said.
