NPYF against exemption mining of strategic minerals from EIA

Shillong, Sept. 19 -- The National People's Youth Front (NPYF), the youth wing of the ruling National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalaya, has strongly opposed the union government's exempting mining proposals of atomic, critical and strategic minerals from the purview of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).

In a memorandum to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, NPYF president Wailadmiki Shylla and working president Bajop Pyngrope has asked Sangma to impress upon the Central government that policy changes of such significance be transparently deliberated in Parliament and state legislatures in consultation with the stakeholders in the spirit of cooperative federalism.

"The exemption of critical mineral mining from public hearings represents a...