Shillong July 5: A delegation of the State Co-ordination Committee of Coal Owners, Miners and Dealers Forum on Thursday called on Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma and sought his intervention to resolve the grievance and hardship of coal miners in the state.
They submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister reiterating the exemption of central mining laws from autonomous region of the State under Para 12 (A), (b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India and sought his intervention on finalisation of mining map, policy and guidelines.
Conrad informed the forum that deliberations with the Ministry of Coal, Government of India is in advanced stage and the Union Coal Minister has been very positive with the representations and memorandums submitted by the State Government.
He assured the delegation that mining of coal has been the priority of the Government and all modalities with respect to environment, safety of miners, are being thoroughly worked out.
He told the forum that in the past three months, the Government has engaged with the Ministry of Coal on several occasions and the discussion are moving forward. He told the forum that Government is concern for the environment and economic activities, which revolves around coal mining in Meghalaya.
He assured the delegation that the Meghalaya Government is finding out a way forward to ensure that mining could be started by taking utmost care of the environment.
