Rajasthan: Mineral fund to fight killer pandemic in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday gave huge relief to financially strapped Rajasthan as she allowed state governments to use District Mineral Foundation (DMF) fund for medical testing, screening and providing health attention services.
Set up 2016 to mitigate the problems faced by people and areas affected by mining, Rajasthan has Rs 3514 crore in its DMF fund, which is the fourth largest in the country after Odisha (Rs 9,501 crore), Jharkhand (Rs 5,181 crore) and Chhattisgarh (Rs 4,980) at the end of January 2020.
So far, the state government has been able to spend only Rs 750 crore as the funds, as per the norms, can only be used for projects that address the problems pollution, environment degradation and development in the mining areas.
Since the scope for spending clearly demarcated and initiatives need to targeted at the problems created by mining, many of the projects get cancelled in the absence of proper planning and availability of planning and manpower resources. For example, Rajasthan has 2627 cancelled projects, the second highest among the states in the country.
But with the finance ministering now allowing the states to use the money to fight the coronavirus epidemic, it has come as a breather for Rajasthan which has struggled to meet many of its obligations in time.
“Unprecedented times like this need innovative ideas. The decision will give a boost for states to allocate resources for containing the disease and averting a larger human tragedy. For us (the state government), it would be big relief,” said an official.
Over the past one year, the financial condition of the state has deteriorated. Royalty revenue from oil and mining has also been declining, which is going to be worse in the coming quarters. The prices of oil has fallen to below $30 per barrel which will erode its revenue kitty significantly.
The government has already announced some relief to BPL families to overcome the difficult times the corona pandemic has brought in. With the DMF fund now available, the government will have some legroom to provide some relief to people who are out of job and without any livelihood opportunities.