JAMMU: Secretary Mining, Amit Sharma, today vowed zero tolerance against illegal mining while cautioning violators of stringent measures against them for indulging in any such unlawful illegal activity.
Amit Sharma, while chairing a review meeting held with the Mining Department in this regard, issued explicit directions towards imposing heavy penalties against illegal mining besides holding a Zero Tolerance policy against such violations.
Secretary cautioned the public against encouraging such illegal practices and rather requested them to become whistle-blowers while pin-pointing such wrongdoings in the mining sector. He asked them to completely desist from taking mining materials without the issuance of proper e-Challan and making maximum utilization of the e-Marketplace created by the department for the sale and purchase of minor minerals across the UT of J&K.
While reviewing the overall performance of the department over the last few months, Secretary assessed the current status of the e-auctioning of mining blocks in all districts and issued directions toward maximizing revenue targets through royalty, fees, penalties, etc. He asked the concerned officers to step up efforts towards the creation of new mining blocks in all districts which should be put at e-auction through Single Window Clearance.
He mentioned that DMOs are the Nodal Officers for their respective districts towards the creation of annual plans for taking up a multiplicity of works under the District Mineral Fund Trust. He said all efforts are being made to ensure the creation of requisite infrastructure and implementation of rehabilitation plans which are mandated under DMFT as per local requirements.
Amit Sharma appreciated the professionalism exhibited by DMOs while addressing public issues and concerns, making them aware of online services and usage of the portal of the Mining department over the last few months.
Secretary assured that all genuine issues like the provision of enhanced IT infrastructure and implementation of technology-driven reforms in the mining sector would be redressed in a time-bound manner.
Among others, the meeting was attended by O P Bhagat, Director Geology and Mining, Vikram K Gupta, MD J&K Minerals, Arun Kotwal, Additional Secretary Mining, Joint Directors, District Mineral Officers, Geologists, Mining Engineers, and others through physical as well as virtual mode.
