DMF Trust Board Convenes After 18 Months, Focus on Mining-Affected Area Development

Koraput, 27th Oct 2025:  After a gap of one and a half years, the funds collected under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) had remained unutilized, as the committee could not be formed due to elections. With the committee now constituted, the first meeting of the DMF Trust Board was held on Friday in the conference hall of the District Collector’s office under the chairmanship of MP Saptagiri Ulaka.

Present at the meeting were Congress Legislative Party Leader and Pottangi MLA Ramachandra Kadam, Koraput MLA Raghuram Machha, Laxmipur MLA Pavitra Saunta, Zilla Parishad Chairperson Sasmita Meleka, and District Collector Manoj Satyaban Mahajan, along with officials from various departments.

The government has issued new guidelines regarding the utilization of DMF funds. As per those guidelines, the Collector discussed how the works should be executed. The discussion also focused on issues faced by villages located within 15 to 25 km radius that are directly or indirectly affected by mining operations.

Special emphasis was given to the development of model villages within the 5 km radius of mining-affected areas. The meeting reviewed the projects already sanctioned under the DMF, those that have not yet started, and discussed the action plan for utilizing unspent funds from the 2024–25 and 2025–26 financial years. Priority was placed on ensuring transparency and proper utilization of DMF funds in directly affected areas.

MP Saptagiri Ulaka stated that in the upcoming board meeting, discussions will be held on the newly proposed projects. As per the new guidelines, DMF funds will be utilized within 15 km as priority areas, and areas within 15–25 km will be treated as secondary priority zones.

He added that the DMF funds will only be spent within this 25 km radius. Over the past two years, around ₹175 crore has remained unspent, and work on 238 projects has yet to begin. There was a demand to cancel those inactive projects. Any new action plan will only be implemented after approval from the Board members.