Haryana News: Haryana CM Bhupendra Singh Hooda promises action against illegal mining

Haryana News: Haryana CM Bhupendra Singh Hooda said the Crime Criminal Information System (CCIS) and Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA) have been implemented in all the police stations in Haryana. Also, POLNET has been installed in the State Police Headquarters and 18 districts of the State.

This was revealed by Haryana Chief Minister Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda while speaking in the 26th meeting of Northern Zonal Council here today. It was presided over by Union Home Minister Mr P.Chidambaram.

He said that Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) is also being introduced. For strengthening of the State Vigilance machinery to effectively deal with the cases of corruption, the Government has established five Vigilance Police Stations at Panchkula, Ambala, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Hisar under the direct charge of officers of the rank of Superintendent of Police. New police stations at Karnal and Faridabad and in the newly created State Vigilance Bureau districts are also under consideration.

He said that as regards the sharing of information on Crime and Criminals for crime prevention, IT has been used in a big way to enhance the quality and speed of the investigation.In order to ensure speedy trial of cases of prevention of crime, Haryana Government has designated all the Courts of Sessions Judges and Additional Sessions Judges in the State as “Special Courts” for trial of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. An exclusive web-site www.haryanavigilance.gov.in has been created. People can register their grievances on the web-site. Further, a toll free telephone number 1800-180-2022 has been installed at the State Vigilance Bureau Headquarters, Panchkula for all concerned to lodge complaints or provide information about corrupt officials. A Citizen Charter has been developed and circulated to all concerned.

The State Government has taken several steps to eradicate human trafficking. It has notified the Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Act 1960. A public notice for registration of various Homes for women under the Act has also been issued. New formats for inspection of these Homes have been designed for better monitoring of their activities. Instructions have been issued to all the Deputy Commissioners to carry out surveys and register all the child care institutions under the JJ Act, 2000. The Science and Technology Department has been requested to design a data base in regard to the Childrens Homes, for securing biometric data of each and every inmate.

The State Government has constituted the State Advisory/ Coordination Committee and its meetings are being held regularly. Three anti-human trafficking units have recently been set up in the most sensitive Police Stations in the State. A special chapter on basic training courses has been incorporated in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention Act). The Women Cells in the offices of the SPs are duly discharging their responsibilities. Six anti-human trafficking unitshave been sanctioned with the help of grant-in-aid received from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. These units are functioning under the supervision of “Designated Officers” of the rank of DIG/SSP. The State level unit is functioning under the supervision of IGP/Crime. Several State level workshops and district level courses have been organized in collaboration with the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) to train the police personnel for effectively curbing the menace of human trafficking.

All police stations in the State have duly designated officers called Juvenile or Child Welfare Officers who are responsible for keeping an effective check on human trafficking in the State including steps taken to trace the missing children. Special units have been constituted in each district. Monthly reports are being sent by all the districts to the Police Headquarters under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Child Labour (Prevention Regulation) Act, 1986, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 1929, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Immoral Traffic (Prevention Act (ITPA), 1956, Information Technology Act, 2000 etc. These reports are collated, processed and analysed in accordance with the guidelines of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the Government of India, and further instructions are issued to the field units for meticulous compliance.

While referring to virtual closure of mining of construction material in the States of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, he said that rates of construction material have gone up by three to four times and the material is just not available at any rates. This has seriously impacted all the development projects besides loss of employment for lakhs of persons and revenue to the States. This situation can be eased if the Ministry of Environment and Forests is approached to re-visit their Notification of September 14,2006 in order to provide for the following:a) Cases for grant of environmental clearances in the case of Minor Minerals, irrespective of the size of lease/contract area, and the conditions of location within the State boundaries, should be delegated to the State Authorities. Incidently, in the case of coal mining which is a major mineral, projects up to 150 hectare areas constitute Category ‘B’ projects, which are within the jurisdiction of State Authorities. If it can be 150 hectares in case of coal mining, there is no reason that it cannot be so in the case of all minor mineral projects as against the present limit of less than 50 hectares.b)Prescribe a rapid process for grant of environment clearance within a period of 30 to 60 days for mining over less than five hectare areas by treating these as category ‘B-2’ projects in which the preparation of EIA reports and Public hearing are not required. Alternatively, certain environmental safeguards can be prescribed in these cases and mining allowed to be undertaken as per such safeguards. c) Exempt the excavation of ordinary earth for earth work in different projects or for the brick kilns, where excavation is not undertaken beyond a depth of 5 feet from the requirement of environmental clearances.

Mr Hooda concluded by saying that the Union Home Minister may consider taking up the matter with the Ministry of Environment and Forests at the appropriate level for a speedy resolution.