Enforcement Directorate scans DMF in Chhattisgarh, seeks from state government

ED sought details of year-wise funds collected under District Mineral Fund scheme over the last five years and its allocation to the districts

RAIPUR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the Chhattisgah government to provide details of money spent through contractors under the District Mineral Fund (DMF) over the last five years, officials aware of the development said on Thursday.

Mining companies have to deposit 10% of the royalty paid to the government in the district mining fund from 2015 for major minerals (File image)

In a July 27 letter, ED sought details of year-wise funds collected under DMF scheme and its allocation to the districts other than Korba district in Chhattisgarh. ED sought details about Korba in 2022.

Mining companies have to deposit 10% of the royalty paid to the government in the district mining fund from 2015 for major minerals such as coal and iron ore with state governments having discretion to utilise the funds for socio-economic development in the mining areas.

HT has reviewed the letter sent by ED to J P Maurya, director of the state’s ecology and mining department.

ED also sought details of agencies and departments who carried out the stipulated work in the districts using the funds.

“Details of contractors’ firms to whom the works under DMF were allotted, along with their PAN card, GSTIN and addresses. Project work-wise details of payment made by these agencies /departments to the contractors’ firms along with details of bank accounts from which payment was made,” the ED letter said.

It also sought guidelines and regulations on utilising the DMF funds along with restrictions imposed, if any, for appropriate use of these funds.

ED sought the information by August 4.

“I received the letter on August 1 and submitted the details a few days ago following the instructions from the department concerned,” said a district collector requesting anonymity

It is not clear if ED has registered a formal case in connecion with utilisation of DMF funds.

An official said the letter does not quote a Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) number which means that they have sought information for scanning the details.

JP Maurya did not respond to questions about the ED communication despite several attempts.

According to the Chhattisgarh government’s website, ₹10,513 crore have been collected under DMF and the state has spent ₹7,928 crore.

Of the total expenditure, ₹1404.93 crore has been spent on projects related to education and ₹651.99 crore on health services. A total of 7,874 projects related to agriculture and allied activities under DMF fund have been approved.

Only ₹171.5 crore have been spent on environment protection and pollution control measures under DMF.

According to a July 21 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on mining in Chhattisgarh, the state government declared 22 districts as mining affected areas in January 2016. The audit report observed that existing control measures prescribed by the mining department to curb illegal mining activities were not being compiled properly and pointed to the absence of a comprehensive database of quarry leases, and boundary pillars/boundary marks to indicate the demarcation of the quarry lease area. It said this resulted in non-identification of quarrying activities beyond the sanctioned lease areas.