A mine at Joda in Keonjhar district. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, June 19: Jolted by the multi-crore mining scam, the Naveen Patnaik government has taken its first step towards turning the slogan of administrative transparency into reality. The government has decided to opt for online transactions in the mineral sector and put almost all mining-related information on the website of the steel and mines department.

The department came out with an advertisement today saying that database on all working mines for major minerals and licensees in the state was available at www.orissaminerals.gov.in.

With the motto “online transactions for great transparency in the mineral sector” set in bold, the ad screamed loud and clear that all lessees and licensees in the Joda mining circle, one of the largest in the state, must file online requests, which is mandatory, for transit permits in the prescribed forms.

Similarly, all 597 lessees of major minerals were required to fill up online form H (Mineral Conservation and Development Rules) returns before July 1, 2011.

Significantly, in the wake of government crackdown on illegally operating mines since 2009 when the scam broke, only 124 of the 597 major mineral mining lessees in the state have been left active.

“Quite a few leases have been suspended, some have even been scrapped,” said steel and mines minister, Raghunath Mohanty, asserting that Orissa is the first state in the country to make all mining-related information available online.

“We had started thinking on these lines immediately after the issue came to light in 2009. The move has the blessings of the chief minister,” added Mohanty.

The “transparency” initiative comes in the wake of government’s decision last April to set up a project management unit (PMU) in the steel and mines department to check the smuggling of minerals from the state, which has 5074.945 million tonnes (MT) of iron ore reserves, 170.62 MT of chrome ore, 1805.81 MT of bauxite and 119.24 MT manganese.

The PMU is supposed to use cutting-edge technology to keep tabs on mining activities around the state.

To begin with, all the 14 mining sectors in Orissa are being connected through the state area wide network (SWAN) technology that facilitates transmission of data straight from the field to the department in Bhubaneswar. Besides trucks carrying minerals would be fitted with radio frequency identity cards containing chips that store pertinent information such as the quantity being ferried in each trip.

The government is also taking the initiative to modernise all the checkgates while making it mandatory for the truck owners to register their vehicle numbers with the steel and mines department.

A watchful eye is being kept on the railway sidings from where minerals are transported outside Orissa, as instances of irregularities in this regard have been reported in the past.

Meanwhile, the state vigilance department, entrusted with the probe into the mining scam, has filed more than 14 cases with chargesheets having been submitted in some of these cases.