Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren writes letter to Railway minister, alleges 'Rail officials are involved in ILLEGAL...'

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, himself surrounded by allegations of corruption, has made serious allegations against the Railways and its officials. CM Soren has also complained about this to the Railway Minister. Hemant Soren has written a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav alleging that the Railways and its officials seem to be involved in promoting illegal mining in Sahibganj and other districts of the state. It has been written in the letter that it has been decided to constitute an inquiry committee to probe it. The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to instruct the railway officials to cooperate fully in this investigation.  

He alleged on Wednesday that as part of a conspiracy, the Railways is not integrating its FIOS with the JIMMS portal of Jharkhand State and mineral wealth is being transported illegally by rail without challans or on the basis of fake challans. A Jharkhand government spokesperson said that the Chief Minister has alleged in a letter to Vaishnav that in such a situation, the state government should constitute a high-level inquiry committee to investigate the involvement of railway officials in illegal mining and its transportation and all other related points. has been decided. The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to instruct the railway officials to cooperate fully in this investigation.

The Chief Minister has said in the letter that the government has issued instructions through frequent meetings, conducting intensive raids and registering FIRs, continuous inspection by district and state level task forces, mineral management through complete online medium using information technology. The Jharkhand Integrated Mines and Minerals Management System (JIMMS) system has been made effective. Through online permit, e-challan, online payment is done. Illegal mining gets the most support from transporters, because without the transport facilities, no person would do illegal mining of minerals. Proper monitoring of mineral transportation by road is being done.

The Chief Minister mentioned in the letter that no cooperation is being given to the state in the efforts being made by the railways to stop the transportation of illegal mining. Despite much correspondence by the state government and its officials with the railways, cases of transportation of mineral wealth without challan are coming to light. Despite requests, Railways has not integrated the JIMMS portal with any other mineral asset except iron ore. The state government has also raised this issue in the meetings of NITI Aayog, Eastern Zonal Council and the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. Despite the personal request in the meeting with the Coal Minister, the transportation of coal is still being done by the Railways without adjustment from the JIIMS portal.