“Mining has only resulted in displacement of lakhs of tribal families instead of creating jobs for them”

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday urged the governments in the mineral-rich Naxal-affected States to focus on development of agriculture and implementation of rural development programmes instead of focusing on mining to create employment. Addressing a gathering of Dongaria and Kutia Kandha tribal groups on the foothills of Niyamgiri hills in this tribal-dominated block of Kalahandi district, Mr. Ramesh underlined the need for prioritising agriculture and rural development saying that mining in the country’s mineral-rich States such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand had only added to the people’s miseries. Mining had only resulted in displacement of lakhs of tribal families instead of proving to be beneficial for them, he added.