Funds for mining-hit in Goa to be spent on panchayat gym gear, SUVs for cops
SUVs, rooftop solar panels for police stations, gym material for a panchayat ghar, and projectors for police stations are all set to be funded through the South Goa District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds, which are meant to be utilised for people affected by mining.
The stark disconnect between these approved expenditures and the foundation's core mandate has sparked concerns among stakeholders over how funds meant for mining-affected communities are being diverted to the administrative conveniences of govt departments.
The DMF, established under the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Amendment Act, 2015, was designed to channel mining revenues toward communities bearing the environmental and social costs of extraction.
The Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) guidelines explicitly mandate the utilisation of at least 70% of funds for high-priority areas, including drinking water supply, environment preservation, pollution control, healthcare, education and the welfare of women, children, aged and disabled persons.
Yet the latest governing council meeting witnessed extraordinary justifications for these questionable expenditures, as revealed in the minutes of the meeting.
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Goa police sought Rs 20 lakh for two hearse vans, claiming they would benefit the "population in mining panchayats" besides handling "unclaimed and destitute bodies." For Rs 4.25 lakh worth of projectors and smart boards, the police department argued they were needed for "awareness about different types of crimes" since police stations lacked such equipment. Moreover, Rs 38 lakh for solar panels on police stations was justified as reducing "non-conventional energy" usage.
The Rs 56 lakh demand for two 4x4 SUVs drew the sharpest questioning. The justification provided by police — 'emergency calls in remote areas' and transportation challenges — proved unconvincing. South Goa MP Viriato Fernandes, also a member of the governing council, questioned why the department couldn't make budgetary provisions for such assets, allowing 'limited DMF money to be utilised for more beneficial work to the mining community'.
Several sources privy to the meeting told
TOI
that 'these projects do not directly benefit the people and thus do not fit into the criteria' for the DMF-funded projects. While hearse vans and police vehicles serve administrative purposes, they fall nowhere within the PMKKKY framework designed to address mining's environmental and social impact.
'If anything, it's the government's responsibility to provide for budgetary allocation for such requirements of its departments.
The DMF funds should go where it is meant to go, and government departments shouldn't dip into it,' a senior govt official privy to the meeting said.
The pattern extends beyond police department proposals. The directorate of health services' Rs 36.47 lakh proposal for TB patient nutrition kits prompted the chairperson, South Goa collector Egna Cleetus, to question 'why the DHS wanted even the smallest items to be purchased through the DMF'.
The DHS' response was telling — their own procurement procedures were 'comprehensive' and would take too long, making DMF a convenient shortcut for requirements.
Another questionable approval pertains to the purchase of gymnasium equipment for panchayats. Minutes reveal Rs 15 lakh sanctioned for gym equipment in Panchwadi panchayat. 'Ideally, projects to be covered under the DMF should be aimed at the revival of livelihoods, revival of agriculture, etc,' another source said.
Sources familiar with the DMF operations said that the problem lay largely in the state's failure to prepare its five-year DMF perspective plan, a statutory requirement contained in the ministry of mines' June 2022 directives. The absence of this plan, they said, leaves the process vulnerable to departmental lobbying and top-down proposals that may not benefit the communities intended to be targeted.
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