Bihar govt withholds salaries of mineral dev officers for 'failing' to meet revenue target
Patna (PTI): The Bihar government has withheld salaries of several district mineral development officers who have allegedly failed to meet the target of revenue collections in their respective areas in the current financial year so far, officials said on Sunday.
The Mines and Geology Department of the state government has sought explanations from such officers in Jehanabad, Gaya, Munger, Jamui and Aurangabad for "failing to meet the target of revenue collections till December 2023 in their respective districts", they said.
The department has managed to achieve around 42 per cent of its revenue target of Rs 3,590.66 crore for 2023-24 from the mining sector as it could collect just Rs 1,500 crore till December 2023, a senior official of the department said.
"Yes, the department has withheld the salaries of several district mineral development officers who failed to meet the target of revenue collections in their respective areas till December end of the current financial year.
"With the revenue collection just 42 per cent of the target so far and most of the districts showing unsatisfactory performance, MDOs concerned have been asked to step up efforts and crack down on illegal mining of (sand), transportation, and storage by the mafia", Mines and Geology Department Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Parmar Ravi Manubhai told PTI.
The officers concerned have also been asked to expedite the revenue collections and achieve the target of the current financial year, he said.
"Their salaries have been withheld till the further order," another official said.
The decision to withhold the salaries of MDOs was taken during the district-wise review of revenue collection by the department last month.
"All the officials have to ensure that they meet their targets. Barring a few, all districts have performed below par. The levy and revenue collections from different bodies (government) in Gaya, Aurangabad, Munger and Bhagalpur are also not satisfactory.
"The total collection (till December) under this head (collection from government bodies) is just Rs 329.88 crore, which is 36.05 per cent of a target of Rs. 914.98 crore," said the ACS, who is also Bihar's Mines Commissioner.
Officials have also been directed to initiate legal action and impose hefty penalties on those indulging in illegal mining in the state, he said, adding that the department has so far collected only Rs. 108.13 crore from penal actions.
Districts, where penal actions need to be intensified, include Jamui, Nawada, Seohar, Sheikhpura, Jehanabad, Kaimur, Rohtas and Bhagalpur, he said.
"It has also come to the notice of the department that incidences of illegal mining and transportation are taking place in certain areas, but officials are not conducting raids to check it. We have sought explanations from officials concerned of Jamui, Nalanda, Sheohar, Kaimur, Sheikhpura, Rohtas, Bhagalpur and Jehanabad in this regard," Manubhai said.
The department is hoping that revenue generation will pick up in the remaining three months of the current financial year.
A sustainable mining activity in Bihar has provided the state government with an avenue for revenue collection. Over the years, the mop-up from mines and minerals has increased substantially.
The overall revenue collection from mines and minerals has increased from Rs 1082.72 crore in 2017-18 to more than Rs 3,000 crore in 2022-23, the official added.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
