Uttarakhand: Politics heated up in Uttarakhand over illegal mining, Mahendra Bhatt said transparent policy increased revenue three times

BJP has described the record increase in revenue in mining as good for the economy of the state. At the same time, it has described the propaganda of Congress leaders as their panic. Let us tell you that Haridwar MP and former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had raised the issue of illegal mining in Uttarakhand in Parliament a day earlier. After which the Congress started making political gains by supporting the former CM. Now state president Mahendra Bhatt has attacked the opposition by praising the Dhami government.

Mahendra Bhatt came out in support of Dhami government

State President Mahendra Bhatt said that the figures prove that mining revenue has increased more than 3 times till the current financial year. At the same time, Congress is unhappy with the 8-fold recovery from the mafia due to transparent policy. Our transparent and honest mining policy has improved the economic health of the state as well as reduced the burden on the pockets of the people. Bhatt has described the opposition’s allegations regarding mining as baseless, unfounded and the irritation of the loss to their allied mafias. Mahendra Bhatt said that due to the excellent management of the Dhami government in the mining sector, there has been an unprecedented increase in revenue. When the BJP government was formed in 2017, at that time the previous Congress government had left only Rs 335.27 crore in the name of mining revenue.

Bhatt counted the achievements of the Dhami government

Mahendra Bhatt said that since then the BJP governments took it seriously. Since then there has been a qualitative increase in the receipt of revenue from mining. When the government led by CM Dhami and especially after 2022, till the current financial year, new records have been set in mining revenue and recovery from mafias. All this has happened due to the transparent mining policy of the government. Apart from this, effective control and speedy action on illegal mining, transportation and storage, allocation of mining leases through e-tender cum e-auction has been ensured. The result of which is that in the financial year 2024-25, so far, revenue of about 1025 crores has been earned, which is expected to cross 1100 crores.

Opposition’s allegations termed baseless

Bhatt has termed all the allegations of illegal mining, illegal transportation, illegal storage, extraction of sub-minerals without royalty forms by the opposition as completely baseless and beyond the truth. The state president said that the record increase in revenue for the first time after the formation of the state confirms that the mining department is working with transparency and effective control. He said that the public is satisfied due to more than 3-fold increase in revenue from mining, but the Congress is worried. Mahendra Bhatt said sarcastically that the Congress leaders are also concerned about the fines imposed on the mining mafia. This figure of fine recovery has increased 8 times in the last 5 years from Rs 18.05 crore to Rs 74.22 crore. Most of this amount has gone from the pockets of the favorite mafias of the Congress leaders, so it is natural for them to be pained and frustrated.

Bhatt made allegations against the previous Congress government

Bhatt alleged that in the Congress governments, the state was cheated of revenue under the pressure of mining mafias. People sitting in the government used to make the mining policy of the state to benefit the mining mafia and their favorites. Bhatt said that their former Chief Minister was seen on camera giving license to loot the resources of the state. These are the people who used to commit the sin of calling Ganga a canal for their mafia friends. But now it is not so. Bhatt said that Chief Minister Dhami has taken care in policy making that the state should get benefits from mining, cheap mining material should be given to the public. Today, with more than three times the revenue and 8 times more penalty, the public is getting manifold benefits. In such a situation, the Congress is in panic that their favorites have suffered losses in the mining business.