MADHYA PRADESH DISTRICT MINERAL FOUNDATION RULES, 2016

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of section 9B of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (Act 67 of 1957), the State Government hereby, makes the following rules to regulate the composition, functions and manner of working of the District Mineral Foundations and the amount of payment to be made to the District Mineral Foundations by the concession holders of minerals, namely:-

Rule - 1. Short title and commencement.

(1)     These rules may be called the Madhya Pradesh District Mineral Foundation Rules, 2016.

(2)     They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the official Gazette.

Rule - 2. Definitions.

(1)     In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-

(a)      'Act' means the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957(No. 67 of 1957);

(b)      'Board' means the Board of Trustees of the Foundations;

(c)      'Foundation' means District Mineral Foundation of a District constituted under these rules and registered as a public trust under the Indian Trusts Act, 1982 (No. 2 of 1882);

(d)      'Government' means the Government of Madhya Pradesh;

(e)      'Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna' (PMKKKY) means the scheme of Government of India to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas;

(f)       'Rules' means the Madhya Pradesh District Mineral Foundation Rules, 2016;

(g)      'State Mineral Fund' means a fund established by the State Government for the purpose as defined in clause (e) of sub-rule (2) of Rule 13.

(2)     Words and expressions used but not defined in these rules shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (No. 67 of 1957), the Mineral (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016, the Madhya Pradesh Minor Mineral Rules, 1996 and the Madhya Pradesh Mineral (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2006.

Rule - 3. Foundations.

(1)     There shall be constituted a District Mineral Foundation for each district of Madhya Pradesh to be known as the....... (Name of the District) District Mineral Foundation.

(2)     The Foundation shall be a perpetual body and will have a common seal.

(3)     The Foundation shall be a Non Profit Making Trust under the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (No. 2 of 1882).

Rule - 4. Objectives of the Foundations.

The Trust shall prepare schemes and plans as per guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna (PMKKKY) and the instructions issued by the State Government from time to time to ensure their implementation for the development of mining affected areas.

Rule - 5. Board.

(1)     The Board of Trustees of the Foundation shall consist of the following members, namely:-

(i)       The Minister Incharge of the District, who shall be the Chairperson;

(ii)      Collector shall be the Vice-Chairperson;

(iii)     Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Panchayat-Member Secretary;

(iv)    Senior most district level officers of Mining, Forest, Rural Development, Public Works, Water Resources, Public Health Engineering, Tribal Development, Agriculture, School Education and Health and Family Welfare Departments and of such other Departments as the State Government may, specify-Ex-officio members;

(v)      The Member of Parliament and Member of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in whose constituency any major mineral concession is situated;

(vi)    President, Zilla Panchayat and Chairpersons of Urban Local Bodies of affected areas who shall be the Ex-officio members;

(2)     The Chairperson may invite such other officials or experts or representatives of organisations working for affected persons to the meetings of the Board, as he may consider necessary.

(3)     The quorum for the Board meeting shall be one third of the members.

(4)     The Board shall meet at least twice in a financial year, and not more than 8 months shall elapse between two meetings.

(5)     Vice-chairperson shall chair the Board meeting in the absence of Chairperson.

Rule - 6. Powers and functions of the Board.

The Board shall have the overall control over the management and functioning of the Foundation, subject to the guidelines or directions, if any, issued by the State Government and shall have the powers to-

(a)      determine the priority areas in consonance with the guidelines of PMKKKY;

(b)      recommend the perspective plan for five years;

(c)      approve the annual financial statements;

(d)      Monitor the proper functioning of the Foundation.

Rule - 7. Composition, powers and functions of Executive Committee.

(1)     The Executive Committee of the Foundation shall have following members, namely:-

Any other officer or expert whom the chairperson may invite as a special invitee.

(2)     The Executive Committee shall be responsible for day to-day management and supervision of the activities of the Foundation under the overall supervision and control of the Board and more specifically, shall have the powers to,-

(a)      Preparation of perspective plan for five years;

(b)      Maintain the accounts;

(c)      supervise the progress and execution of works;

(d)      invest the funds of the Foundation in accordance with the guidelines to be laid down by the State Government and the Board;

(e)      Prepare the annual budget plan and working plan based on plan recommended for five years by the board, for approval of the Chairman;

(f)       Member Secretary shall issue administrative sanction after getting administrative approval of Chairman of the Board through the Vice Chairman deciding priority amongst the recommended individual projects, having estimated cost up to Rs. 10 crore. Prior approval of the State Government shall be taken for projects having estimated cost of more than Rs. 10 crores.

(3)     The Executive Committee shall meet at least once in every quarter and more frequently, if required.

Rule - 8. Funds of the Foundation.

The funds of the Foundation shall comprised of-

(a)      payment made by the lessees of major mineral leases at the rates specified by the Central Government;

(b)      any fund transferred from other District Mineral Foundations;

(c)      all receipts and income including interest accrued therefrom.

(d)      voluntary contributions, if any, received by the Foundation from any person or organization;

(e)      loans/grants and budgetary devolution with the prior permission of the State Government.

Rule - 9. Bank accounts.

(1)     All the funds of the Foundation shall be credited to the Bank account of the Foundation having in any Scheduled Bank.

(2)     The Bank account of the Foundation shall be operated by at-least two persons to be decided by the Executive Committee, one of whom shall be the Member Secretary of the Executive Committee.

(3)     All payments by the Foundation, except small payments not exceeding Rs. 5,000 shall be made only through electronic payment to the Bank account of the recipient or through an Account Payee Cheque.

Rule - 10. Contribution by the lessees.

(1)     The contribution of lessee of major mineral shall become payable on the same day and time on which such royalty is payable to the State Government.

(2)     No transit pass shall be issued to any lessee for major mineral unless the contribution to the Foundation has been remitted to the Foundation.

(3)     All lessees of major minerals shall make the required payment to the Foundation in the same frequency as is required to pay royalty to the State Government. If the lessees are failure to make the required payment to the Foundation on time, then in addition to the principal amount so payable to the Foundation, he shall also be liable to pay an additional simple interest at the rate of 2% per month, for the time of delay.

Rule - 11. Permissible activities.

The funds of the Foundation may be utilised for undertaking activities in consonance with the provisions of the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna and for other developmental activities as decided by the State Government.

Rule - 12. Identification of affected areas and People.

(1)     Affected areas

(i)       Villages and Gram Panchayats within which the mines are situated and are operational. Such mining areas may extend to neighboring village, block or district or even state.

(ii)      An area within such radius from a mine or cluster of mines as may be specified by the State Government, irrespective of whether this falls within the district concerned or adjacent district.

(iii)     Villages in which families displaced by mines have been resettled/rehabilitated by the project authorities.

(iv)    Villages that significantly depend on the mining areas for meeting their economic needs and have usufruct and traditional rights over the project areas, for instance, for grazing, collection of minor forest produce etc.

(2)     Indirectly affected areas - Those areas which are not directly affected but where local population is adversely affected on account of economic, social and environmental consequences due to mining-related operations, even though the major negative impacts of mining could be by way of deterioration of water, soil and air quality, reduction in stream flow sand depletion of ground water, congestion and pollution due to mining operations, transportation of minerals, increased burden on existing infrastructure and resources.

(3)     The Foundation shall prepare and maintain an updated list of such directly and indirectly affected areas.

(4)     Affected people shall include,-

(a)      affected family as defined under clause (c) of Section 3 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (No. 30 of 2013);

(b)      'displaced family' as defined under clause (k) of Section 3 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (No. 30 of 2013);

(c)      any other person or family appropriately identified by the concerned Gram Sabha;

(d)      people who have legal and occupational rights over the land being mined, and also those with usufruct and traditional rights;

(e)      the Foundation shall prepare and maintain an updated list of such affected persons/local communities.

Rule - 13. Utilization of Funds.

(1)     Scope of the work of the Foundations:

The Following shall be the activities of the Foundation:-

(A)     High priority areas - at-least 60% fund shall be utilized under following heads:-

(a)      Drinking water supply Centralized purification systems, water treatment plants, permanent/temporary water distribution network including standalone facilities for drinking water, laying of piped water supply system.

(b)      Environment preservation and pollution control measures-Effluent treatment plants, prevention of pollution of streams, lakes, ponds, ground water, other water sources in the region, measures for controlling air and dust pollution caused by mining operations and dumps, mine drainage system, mine pollution prevention technologies, and measures for working or abandoned mines and other air, water and surface pollution control mechanisms required for environment-friendly and sustainable mine development.

(c)      Health care - The focus must be on creation of primary/secondary/tertiary health care facilities in the affected areas. The emphasis should not be only on the creation of the health care infrastructure, but also on provision of Providing necessary staff, equipment and supplies required for making such facilities effective. To that extent, the effort should be to supplement and work in convergence with the existing health care infrastructure of the local bodies, state and Central Government. The expertise available with the National Institute of Miners' Health may also be drawn upon to design special infrastructure needed to take care of mining related illnesses and diseases. Group Insurance Scheme for health care may be implemented for mining affected persons.

(d)      Education - Construction of school buildings, additional class rooms, Laboratories, Libraries, arts and crafts room, toilet blocks, drinking water provisions residential hostels for students/teachers in remote areas,, sports infrastructure, vocational training facility, engagement of teachers/other supporting staff, e-learning setup, other arrangement of transport facilities (bus/van/cycles/rickshaws/etc.) and nutrition related programmes.

(e)      Welfare of women and children- Special programmes for addressing problems of maternal and child health, malnutrition, adolescence, infectious diseases, etc. can be taken up under the Trust.

(f)       Welfare of aged and disabled people - Special programme for welfare of aged and disabled people.

(g)      Skill development-Skill development for livelihood support, income generation and economic activities for local eligible persons. The projects/schemes may include training, development of vocational/skill development center, self employment schemes, support to Self Help Groups and provision of forward and backward linkages for such self-employment economic activities.

(h)     Sanitation - Collection, transportation and disposal of waste, cleaning of public places, provision of proper drainage and sewage treatment plant, provision for disposal of fecal sludge, provision of toilets and other related activities.

(B)     Other priority areas - Up to 40% Fund shall be utilized under these following heads.

(a)      Physical infrastructure - Providing required physical infrastructure and its maintenance - roads, bridges, railways and waterways projects.

(b)      Irrigation - Developing alternate sources of irrigation, adoption of suitable and advanced irrigation techniques.

(c)      Energy and watershed development - Development of alternate source of energy and rainwater harvesting system. Development of orchards, integrated farming and economic forestry and restoration of catchments.

(d)      Any other measures for enhancing environmental quality in mining district.

(2)     General guidelines

(a)      The developmental and welfare activities to be taken up under the Foundation should be, as far as possible, in the nature of complementing the ongoing schemes/projects being funded by the State Government as well as Central Government.

Activities meant to be taken up under the 'polluter pays principle' should not be taken up under the Foundation. However, without prejudice to the powers of the Foundation, efforts shall be made to achieve convergence with the State and the district plans so that the activities taken up by the Foundation supplement the development and welfare activities and are treated as extra-budgetary resources for the State plan.

(b)      An amount not exceeding 3% of the annual receipts of the Foundation subject to an upper limit fixed by the State Government may be utilized for administrative, supervisory and overhead costs of the Foundation. As far as possible, no temporary/permanent posts should be created under the Foundation. Any creation of temporary/permanent posts and purchase of vehicle by the foundation shall require prior approval of the State Government. However, minimum required staff can be engaged on contractual basis.

(c)      If the affected area of a mine in one district also falls in the jurisdiction of another district, such percentage of amount collected from the mine by the Foundation, as may be decided by the State Government, shall be transferred to the Foundation of the other district concerned for taking up the activities in such areas. A project that is for benefit of the affected area/people, but stretches beyond the geographical boundary of the district should be taken up under the Foundation after obtaining prior approval of the State Government. Projects for development of common infrastructure like construction of roads, bridges etc. in excess of the limits specified in regard to the priority for fund utilization, on a case to case basis, may also be taken up for projects of importance to the district. The prior approval of the State Government shall be taken, before taking up such works in excess of the limits of fund utilization, and its intimation shall be given to the Central Government.

(d)      Rules of the State Government shall apply in financial matters and for procurement.

(e)      All District Mineral Foundations shall transfer the percentage of their annual accruals to the State Mineral Fund in manner mentioned below to carry out works related to development, in mining affected areas of any district or the works which involve more than one district:-

Example:- If the total receipts of any District Mineral Foundation is Rs. 125 crore in any financial year, then following amount shall be transferred by them to the State Mineral Fund:-

Rule - 14. Administration of State mineral Fund.

(a)      Application of the fund: The fund shall be utilized for carrying out the works as mentioned in Rule 13.

(b)      Administration of the fund by the Committee:

(1)     The Fund shall be administered by a Committee, which shall consist of the following members, namely:-

The Chairman of the committee may co-opt such other members depending on the type of development works to be taken up.

(2)     The Finance department shall be Administrator of the fund.

(3)     The committee shall consider and recommend the development proposals as mentioned in rule 13 initiated from the concerned department of the State or from a particular District Mineral Foundation or a group of District Mineral Foundations. Approval, on such recommended proposals, shall be obtained from the Chief Minister in coordination through the Chief Secretary.

(4)     The committee shall meet at-least once in a period of every three months.

(5)     The fund shall be utilized only for the proposals/projects which are approved by the Committee.

(6)     The extant rules of the State Government shall be applicable regarding technical sanction and administrative approval of such project/proposals.

(7)     Mode of expenditure from the fund: After the amount is credited to the Fund, the administrator shall issue an order in accordance with the approval of the Committee, as mentioned in sub-rule (5), for incurring the expenditure by debiting the fund from account directly. The Finance Department shall, however, be consulted before drawing the amount from the fund.

Rule - 15. Special provisions for scheduled areas.

The process to be adopted for utilization of district funds in the scheduled areas shall be guided by the provisions contained in Article 244 read with Schedule V and Schedule VI of the Constitution of India relating to administration of the Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas and the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (No. 40 of 1996) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (No. 2 of 2007) In respect of villages affected by mining situated within the scheduled areas:

(i)       Approval of the Gram Sabha shall be required for-

(a)      all plans, programmes and projects to be taken up under the Foundation.

(b)      identification of beneficiaries under the existing guidelines of the Government.

(ii)      Report on the works undertaken under the Foundations in the respective village shall be furnished to the Gram Sabha after completion of every financial year.

Rule - 16. Execution of works/Contracts.

(1)     The works approved by the Foundation shall be executed through the Government departments, agencies, Panchayati Raj Institutions and public sector undertakings normally responsible for execution of such works.

(2)     In respect of such works, which are to be executed through Private Public Partnership scheme, the Executive Committee may award the work to any other competent and sound agencies following a transparent process, after obtaining prior approval of the Board.

Rule - 17. Maintenance of accounts.

(1)     The accounts of the Foundation shall be maintained in accordance with such accounting procedure as the State Government, may, specify.

(2)     The accounts of the Foundation shall be audited every year by the Chartered Accountant appointed by the Board, or in such other manner as the State Government may specify, and the report thereof shall be placed in the public domain along with the annual report.

Rule - 18. Annual report.

(1)     Every year, within three months from the date of closure of the financial year, the Executive Committee shall cause to prepare an annual report on its activities for the respective financial year and place it before the Board.

(2)     The annual report shall be submitted to the State Government within one month from the date of its approval by the Board and shall also be hosted on the website of the Foundation.

(3)     The annual report of each Foundation shall be laid before the State Legislative Assembly by the Mining Department.

Rule - 19. Maintenance of transparency.

Each Foundation shall prepare and maintain a website on which, inter-alia, following information shall be hosted and kept updated-

(i)       details of composition of the Foundation;

(ii)      list of areas and people affected by mining;

(iii)     quarterly details of all contributions received from lessees and others;

(iv)    all meeting agenda, minutes and action taken reports (ATRs) of the Foundation;

(v)      annual plans and budget, work orders, annual report;

(vi)    online status of ongoing works - implementation status/progress of all the projects/programmes being undertaken under Foundation should be made available on the website, including description of work, details of beneficiaries, estimated cost, name of implementing agencies, expected date of commencement and completion of work, financial and physical progress upto last quarter etc;

(vii)   list of beneficiaries under various welfare programmes;

(viii)  voluntary disclosures under Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005).

Rule - 20. Monitoring of the amount payable to the Foundation.

(1)     Every lessee shall remit the amount payable to the Foundation into the credit of such Bank account as the Foundation may specify, under intimation to the officer to whom the royalty is payable.

(2)     Every officer who is authorized to collect royalty shall maintain a register of the amount payable and paid by each lessee and furnish the monthly consolidated statement thereof to the Member Secretary of the Committee at the end of every month.

Rule - 21. Power of Government to relax the operation of these rules.

The State Government may, for the reasons to be recorded, and by an order in writing, relax the application of any of the provisions of these rules to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order.

Rule - 22. Review.

The State Government shall review and revise the rules in every five years, in consonance with the "objectives" of the Foundation.

Rule - 23. Amendment.

Whenever any amendments are required in these rules, these may be made after getting order in coordination of the Chief Minister, by the administrative departments.