Years of crackdown on illegal mining has not though reduced the illegal mining activities in Jammu & Kashmir but Government’s recent announcement about launch of an e-portal for smooth purchase of mining materials once implemented would most probably reduce the intensity of the illegal mining activities both in Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division. Obviously the motive of launching an e-portal after separating the Geology and Mining Department from the Industries & Commerce department is to impose strict curbs on mining mafia. After placing the mining department under a full fledged administrative secretary the launch of e-portal for smooth purchase of mining material by all standards of administrative understandabilities could be a step forward towards institutionalising transparency and accountability in the purchase of mining materials as such a process could also finally demolish the mining mafia in Jammu & Kashmir. Mere announcement of the launch of an e-portal won’t be the beginning of transparency in the purchase of mining activities but the portal’s functionality make a difference in the purchase of mining materials in Jammu & Kashmir. While the purchase of mining materials is an all season activity in Jammu division, the activity is seasonal in Kashmir valley as it last till November end and revives after mid march every year. Timing for purchase of mining materials hardly matters but what matters is transparency in the entire mining activity in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. With Government planning to put district wise names of all license holders of the mining trade on the proposed e-portal of the Mining Department, the scope of the intrusion of illegal license holders in the mining trade could be probably curbed to a greater extent. In fact successful operation of e-portal would probably also show Government’s zero tolerance against illegal mining activities in Jammu & Kashmir.
Since the online functioning of unique G2B2C portal for purchase of mining materials would be first-of-its-kind in the country through which QR-coded fool proof e-challans to all relevant vendors shall be issued through integration of payment gateways for online charging of royalty fees and other dues, the announcement is a huge blow to the land mafia in Jammu & Kashmir .
The placement of all license holders on the e-portal of the mining department won’t only stop the intrusion of fake license holders in the mining activities but it would also lead to hassle free supply of construction material to the people. Never forget that hassle free supply of the construction material would also bring down the prices of the construction material which are sky rocketing to new heights year after year and month after month. Since the online functioning of unique G2B2C portal for purchase of mining materials would be first-of-its-kind in the country through which QR-coded fool proof e-challans to all relevant vendors shall be issued through integration of payment gateways for online charging of royalty fees and other dues, the announcement is a huge blow to the land mafia in Jammu & Kashmir .
