Don't quit mining, give options to tribals: Pranab Mukherjee

September 27: Finance minsiter Pranab Mukherjee has favoured a balanced approach on the issue of displacement of tribals due to mining projects, saying that solution does not lie in stopping these projects altogether.

"Answer does not lie in the companies stopping mining activities. Answer lies in providing alternatives to those displaced... in what form we can compensate them and make them beneficiary of economic development," Mr Mukherjee said at a coal summit recently.

Mr Mukherjee's comments came within a month of environment ministry rejecting earlier clearances to Vedanta's Rs 7000 crore bauxite mining project in Orissa citing violation of green and tribal norms.

The ministry has also halted land acquisition process for Posco's Rs 54,000 crore steel project in the state citing similar violations. A Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by the finance minister, is deliberating a proposal to give tribals a part of profits in mining projects.

Source: The Economic Times