Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi has begun a campaign against illegal mining in Karnataka, India and the state BJP Government. Describing such activities has a threat to the economy of the country and a way of life she asked for a Commission of Inquiry to be set up.
She has called illegal mining a serious menace in a number of states affected by tribal deprivation and left wing extremist violence. She stressed that dealing with the Naxalite problem will call for innovations in the manner mineral resources and forests are managed. The Naxalites are a Maoist communist group in India.
Sonia Gandhi was speaking at the meeting of the CPP when she said that the government was taking up a number of initiatives such as setting up a mining regulatory authority. She was worried about the high degrees of convergence between areas that are mineral and forest rich and the arenas of tribal deprivation.
The GoM has prepared a detailed agenda for action, compensation has been increased, medical facilities are being strengthened, judicial decisions are being reopened, waste disposal, decontamination and remediation activities are being finalised. Ms Gandhi said that not a single victim should be denied justice.