Will amend mining policy to plug loopholes, check revenue loss: CM

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today assured the Assembly that the state mining policy would be amended to check and plug loopholes that lead to revenue loss. He said that the government was ready to make amendments to the policy and raise the income from mining from current Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.

“We will not allow anyone to plunder the state’s resources and if any mistake has been made, it will be corrected,” said Sukhu while responding to a question raised by Bharmour MLA Janak Raj in the Question Hour.

The Bharmour MLA had asked the government if there was a plan to lease 165 bighas of government land in Chamba district to an individual, especially when more than five bighas of government land could be given only through auction.

Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, while replying to the question, said that the case the MLA was alluding to pertained to the period before 2018. “This case is from 2015 and the lease was renewed as he had completed all formalities and had the required clearances and no-objection certificates. Post 2018, the government land for mining was given only through auction,” he added.

To Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma’s question, Sukhu said that the state government would construct an international convention centre at Tapovan in Dharamsala. “It will be constructed on 4.5 hectares and will be the largest convention centre in the country,” he claimed. Initially, the plan was to build the centre at Dari Maidan, but the government decided against it to preserve the children’s playground, he added.

In response to a joint question asked by Banjar MLA Surender Shourie, Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma and Jaswan-Pragpur MLA Bikram Singh, the Industries Minister said that 1,937 cases had been approved under the Chief Minister’s Swavlamban Yojana in the past two years. “An amount of more than Rs 45 crore has been spent under this scheme and out of which Rs 44.64 crore has been given as grants and Rs 41 lakh has been spent on promotional activities,” he added.

The Chief Minister said that the government would first clear the pending dues of Rs 127 crore under the scheme. “After pending cases are settled, new applications will be accepted,” he added.

Sukhu said that the government would send MLAs on foreign tours under department projects. “The foreign exposure will help the MLAs play a more positive and effective role under the schemes made for the progress of the state,” he added while intervening to reply to a question of Sullah MLA Vipin Parmar about the foreign exposure trips of students and teachers.

Education Minister Rohit Thakur said that the selection of students and teachers for foreign trips was made through a transparent criteria. “The funding for foreign trips was received under the Star Project sponsored by the World Bank. If this project gets an extension from the Central Government, the foreign exposure trips for students and teachers will continue,” he added.