‘Satisfied’ for Satisfaction:

April 23/2013: When the Justice MB Shah Commission was set up in November 2010 to enquire into illegal mining activities, it had led to a lot of hype and hoopla. Environmentalists went gaga over it and people affected by mining activities in their respective States heaved a sigh of relief.

Earlier, mining used to be a hush-hush affair, largely limited to forest and tribal areas. The miners and their minions wielded enormous clout and little was known to the outside world about their nefarious operations. With little or no access to information, media exposure on mining activities also was virtually nil. However, as the Shah Commission started the probe, information started slowly filtering out that gave enough fodder for the media to expose the misdeeds of the miners. The nation was rattled when the large scale misdeeds of Karnataka based Reddy brothers were exposed.  That the Government with the help of a few bureaucrats holding key positions in the Ministry of Mines could hand over on a platter billions of dollars to inpiduals and families for four to five decades is a matter of great concern.

Enter the media. Once reports about illegal mining in Karnataka surfaced, the drama gradually unfolded and the public started raising questions.  The Reddy brothers were in politics and in their misdeeds the UPA found a stick to beat the BJP with. Fortunately for the nation, the pressure became so much that the Supreme Court directed the Government to institute an Inquiry Commission. That is how the Shah Commission came into being.  Unfortunately for all of us, even though the mandate was to take stock of the total universe of mining in the country, the Commission very smartly focused only on iron ore mining because that seems to be the most expensive ore and in global demand from the mid 90s till date. In the process, the wily Shah Commission pushed aside and precluded from inquiry mining of other equally expensive minerals such as chrome.  Nevertheless, after Karnataka came Goa and subsequently 49 leaseholders in Karnataka and 93 in Goa had their leases cancelled.

When the Shah Commission visited Orissa, much red dust flew around and the heat generated convinced people that the Commission will mete out justice in the interest of the State.  A few inpidual and family mine owners such as KJS Ahluwalia, Indrani Patnaik, Sirajudin, Sarada Mines and Rungta group seemed to have come under the scanner and people pinned great hopes on the Commission.

But past Sunday (April 21), news reports that the Shah Commission has expressed ‘satisfaction’ over the blueprint offered by the mining goons of Orissa have created unease and suspicion in the minds of the average Oriya. Amounting to a paltry hundred crore rupees, this blueprint is a promise of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.  Instituting two colleges, a 100-bedded hospital and laying a few roads are the major highlights of this blueprint. Incidentally, these few inpiduals and families holding on to mines of immense wealth have become owners of a few hundred thousand crores over the past decade and a half.  For all of them, communication, medical facilities and health to their workers and villagers of the adjoining areas must have been of the greatest importance.  Hilariously, when their cash registers were ringing in billions of dollars, the people of Orissa who ever dared to visit the mining areas saw the sad state of affairs in the matter of roads, drinking water and health facilities in districts like Keonjhar and Sundargarh. These acknowledged crooks have been historically cold and merciless towards locals as well as their own employees.  Threats and murders have been the law in those areas. The State Government has always acted as cohorts in these mammoth crimes and robberies. Still Justice Shah believes that the blueprint will mitigate the immense suffering that these families have inflicted for decades on hapless citizens. Therefore, it is impossible to believe that Justice Shah is convinced that a crow could ever transform itself into a swan.

Probably where Karnataka and Goa mine leaseholders could not succeed, the Orissa based operators excelled.  Now, it is not a question of whether the Shah Commission was satisfied with a 100 crore blueprint. The common Oriya is asking what ‘satisfied’ Justice Shah to express his ‘satisfaction.’