HOW NOT TO DEVELOP ODISHA: I would like to present a widely publicised event, which would convey our approach for development of Odisha and specifically how not to. It is about the report on illegal mining by Justice Shah Commission. Following the appointment of the Commission, Justice Shah and his team paid three visits to the state and held final discussion at Ahmedabad. The visits and the reports submitted by the Commission created unprecedented hype in the media with NGOs who are not remotely connected with mining vying with each other to paint the mining industry as the villain. The Commission was accorded reception, which is normally reserved for the crown and the highest dignitaries of the country. I believe this has not happened in the country before. The commission in turn, it appears to me had a preconceived mandate to blame the State Government, Government of India and the Mining Industry. Several of its recommendations are based on wrong interpretation of data furnished by the State Government. The State Government was in great hurry to furnish information without proper verification and scrutiny. One of the recommendations of the Commission as reported in the media is to entrust investigation about the alleged mining scam to CBI. We in the country believe that referring any innocuous and trivial issues to CBI will solve the problem. This is a totally wrong approach. The matter is now under consideration of the apex court. My suggestion is that the problem of illegal mining will not be solved by closing down the mines, which are located in the areas inhabited predominantly by tribals. This will have serious consequences rising out of loss of employment, loss of revenue to the state and the central exchequer and adversely affecting the iron and steel industry of the country.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 14:47:53 +0000
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