States » EastPosted at: Oct 3 2026 7:45PM


Odisha Congress seeks white paper on utilization of DMF funds, alleges large-scale irregularities

Bhubaneswar, Oct 3 (UNI) The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee on Saturday demanded a white paper on the utilisation of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds in the state, alleging large-scale irregularities and diversion of resources meant for mining-affected communities.
The party demanded that the government publish district-wise details of DMF collections, project approvals, expenditure and unspent balances since 2015-16 and immediately recover all expenditure identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as irregular or inadmissible.
Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan here, senior Congress leader Sudarshan Das also sought fixing of responsibility on officials and authorities found accountable for the irregularities.
Das said the 30 DMFs in Odisha had collected Rs 26,602.66 crore between 2015-16 and 2023-24, against which projects worth Rs 25,969.87 crore were approved. However, actual expenditure by March 2024 stood at only Rs 15,817.56 crore, accounting for 59.46 per cent of the funds collected.
He said DMF resources were primarily meant for the welfare and development of people and areas affected by mining activities and for mitigating the adverse impact of mining.
The CAG findings had raised serious questions over the planning, approval and utilisation of DMF funds and the issue was not merely one of financial irregularities but directly concerned the welfare of mining-affected communities, Das said.
Citing the CAG findings, he said Rs 983.32 crore had been spent on 2,224 projects in 976 villages in Keonjhar and Sundargarh that were not identified as mining-affected areas. At the same time, no DMF project had been taken up in 488 directly mining-affected villages and 96 indirectly mining-affected villages, he claimed.
Das questioned the utilisation of Rs 136.77 crore from the Sundargarh DMF for the Rourkela International Hockey Stadium. The CAG had held the expenditure to be irregular, observing that construction of the stadium did not fall under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) and had limited or no use for people directly or indirectly affected by mining activities.
The Congress leader further said the CAG had identified 317 projects involving Rs 679.14 crore in five districts that were approved outside the PMKKKY framework.
He alleged that Rs 171.79 crore from the DMFs of Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh had been used for payment of additional MGNREGS wages, even though such expenditure was the responsibility of the state government and fell outside the approved PMKKKY activities.
Das said the CAG had also identified Rs 25.01 crore as irregular administrative expenditure from the Sundargarh DMF. The expenditure included police patrolling vehicles, renovation of a municipal office, renovation of a reading room at the Collector's residence, inauguration-related expenses and school programmes, he said.
He further said more than Rs 470.25 crore remained with implementing agencies in Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh even after completion of projects, while Rs 26.51 crore in interest had not been returned.
Das said none of the six DMFs examined by the CAG had prepared the mandatory Perspective Plan or Master Plan despite receiving more than Rs 22,568 crore and approving Rs 20,947 crore for 17,435 projects.
The Congress demanded publication of village-wise details of DMF expenditure, including beneficiaries, implementing agencies and project timelines. It also sought priority for directly mining-affected villages and Gram Sabha recommendations, preparation of Perspective and Master Plans for every DMF and an independent review of major projects undertaken outside PMKKKY norms.
Das alleged that the state government had failed to ensure that DMF resources reached the people and areas most affected by mining.
UNI DP
Tags: #Odisha Congress seeks white paper on utilization of DMF funds# alleges large-scale irregularities
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