DISTRICT MINERAL FOUNDATION

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Context:

Over 10 years, DMFs have transformed mining areas by funding projects that improve livelihoods and promote community welfare across India.

What is District Mineral Foundation?

District Mineral Foundation (DMF) is a non-profit statutory ‘Trust’ for every district affected by mining-related operations to protect the interest of communities and benefit the people in those areas.

Why was it established?

• For years, mining has benefitted mining companies, individual miners and governments, not the communities living there.
• Because of mining, people are displaced from their land and suffer other negative consequences like break-up of the society and pollution, but are never adequately compensated.
• This is the reason for the poor socio-economic and environmental status of most mining affected districts.

Under which law is this recognized?

• DMF is recognized under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR) of
• The objective of DMFs have been mentioned in the Section 9B (2) of the MMDR Act (amended in 2015) as ‘to work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining-related operations’.
• The objective and functioning of DMF are also guided by constitutional provisions as it relates to Fifth and Sixth Schedules for governing tribal areas, the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996, and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 – the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

Who is entitled to benefit?

• Communities/people in areas affected by mining.
• People having legal and occupational rights over the land being mined.
• People having ‘usufruct’ (user rights) and ‘traditional rights’.

Who can be called an affected person?

• Affected families will be the ones as given under Section 3(c) of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. These include:  
• Families whose land or other immovable property has been acquired for mining activity.
• Tenants (including any form of tenancy), or holding usufruct rights over the land.
• Agriculture labourers.
• Share-croppers or artisans working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition of the land, whose primary source of livelihood has been affected by land acquisition.
• Scheduled Tribes, other traditional forest dwellers who have lost any of their forest rights as recognized under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 because of land acquisition.
• A family member whom the Central or state government has assigned land under any of its schemes and such land is under acquisition.
• Displaced families.
• Any other as appropriately identified by the gram sabha.

Indirectly affected areas include:

Areas where the local population is adversely affected by deterioration of water, soil and air quality, reduction in stream flows and depletion of groundwater, congestion and pollution due to mining operations, transportation of minerals and increased burden on existing infrastructure and resources.

Who will run the DMF?

• The DMF will have a Board of Trustees and an Executive Committee.
• Both will be headed by the District Collector.

Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees, has also some representation of elected representatives from mining areas such as members of Lok Sabha, members of state legislative assembly, member of zila parishad, members of panchayati raj institutions or urban local bodies.

Role of Board of Trustees

• Approve annual budget and plan.
• Approve master plan or perspective plan
• Decide which priority areas money should be spent on and decide sectoral allocation
• Sanction individual projects exceeding 10 crore;
• Appoint auditors and approve annual reports of the Trust.
• Board meetings: The Board has to meet at least twice during one financial year.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee has mainly government officials.

Role of the committee

• Oversee day-to-day functioning of DMF, including administration of funds;
• Prepare DMF budget, which is subject to Board’s approval.
• Give the work contract and payment to concerned authorities/ people.
• Sanction individual projects not exceeding Rs. 10 crore.
• Supervise work progress, maintain accounts
• Executive Meetings: Executive committee will meet atleast once every quarter.

How and for what should DMF money be used?

• To channelize the funds properly, the Central government in September 2015 launched the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna (PMKKKY), a welfare scheme for mining-affected areas and people.
• The objective in the PMKKKY is to implement developmental and welfare projects/programmes in mining affected areas alongside existing schemes/projects of State and central governments.
• Minimizing the impacts of mining on the people in mining districts and ensuring that those affected have long-term sustainable livelihoods.
• It gave clear guidelines regarding where DMF money use is to be prioritized.

DMF money should be used to:  

• Implement various developmental and welfare projects/programmes in mining-affected areas, and these will complement existing ongoing schemes/ projects of the state and Central government.
• Minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts during and after mining on the environment, health and socio-economic status of people.
• Ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for mining-affected people.

Overall functions of DMF

• Facilities for drinking-water supply, such as centralized purification systems, water treatment plants and permanent/temporary water distribution networks, including standalone facilities for drinking water, piped-water supply etc.
• Proper infrastructure for sanitation, such as ensuring collection, transportation and disposal of waste, cleaning of public places, provision of proper drainage and sewage treatment (sewage treatment plants), disposal of faecal sludge, provision of toilets etc;
• Creation of primary and secondary healthcare facilities in affected areas and maintaining necessary infrastructure.
• Instituting a group insurance health scheme for mining-affected people.
• Educational institutes and vocational training centres and supporting infrastructures.
• Welfare of women and children through special efforts for addressing problems of maternal and child health, malnutrition
• Welfare of aged and disabled people.
• Skill development for livelihood support, income generation and other economic opportunities. This can involve training programmes, developing skill-development centre, providing self-employment schemes, supporting self-help groups and entrepreneurship etc.
• Provide housing for people without pacca houses, through group housing schemes, old age home etc.
• Environmental pollution control and mitigation measures.

Power of Gram Sabha

• Approval of gram sabha is required to identify beneficiaries in affected villages.
• Decide plans and programmes to be carried out in affected areas.
• Approval of the gram sabha is required for all plans/programmes/projects to be taken up with DMF money.
• Monitor developmental schemes/works.
• Report on the works undertaken by the DMF Trust in respective villages should also be furnished to the gram sabha after completion of every financial year.

Achievements through DMF

• Decentralized development: The DMF has received a corpus of almost ₹1 lakh crore through which decentralised community-centric development works are carried out in mining affected districts.
• Efficient use of national exchequer: The journey from huge losses in crores to the national exchequer to an almost ₹1 lakh crore corpus in the DMF is a transformation worth narrating.
• The DMFs have resulted in three lakh projects being sanctioned across 645 districts in 23 States, transforming mineral wealth into a lifeline for development in mining affected regions.
• Mineral Foundation Day: September 16 is District Mineral Foundation Day as the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) scheme enters its tenth year.
• Complements to National Critical Minerals Mission : DMF complements the goal of National Critical Minerals Mission through the welfare of the local communities in mining areas.
• Inclusive development: DMFs institutionalise this strategy by making State governments active partners and stand as a veritable picture of the philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas Sabka Prayas’.
• Transparency: The ‘National DMF Portal’ digitises the administration and the oversight of DMFs across India, enabling greater transparency and efficiency in operations.

DMF  and Cooperative federalism

• The DMFs are a fine example of cooperative federalism and have the unique advantage of converging central and State schemes.
• Aligning goals and resources at three levels of governance ensures that national priorities meet local needs and amplify the impact and reach.
• Moving forward with a ‘whole of government’ approach, DMFs are becoming powerful tools for truly inclusive governance.

Conclusion

DMFs are not only spearheading national priorities but also supplementing efforts of the district administration in improving the socio-economic and human development indicators of the region.

Must Read Articles

DMFs: :  https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/district-mineral-foundation-dmf#:~:text=Keonjhar%20district%20in%20Odisha%20is,mineral%20reserves%2C%20especially%20iron%20ore.

MINERAL DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA: https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/mineral-distribution-in-india

Critical and Strategic minerals: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/critical-and-strategic-minerals

Source:

https://cdn.cseindia.org/userfiles/dmf-brouchure-odisha.pdf

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-human-touch-to-indias-mineral-ecosystem/article68645947.ece