The Union minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, visited the Kolkata-based Geological Survey of India’s (GSI) central headquarters on September 22.
He was accompanied by Sanjay Lohiya, additional secretary, Ministry of Mines and Pradeep Singh, director (tech.) Ministry of Mines.
S Raju, director-general, GSI, along with other senior officers welcomed the minister and his team.
In his welcome address, Raju explained the major frontline activities and achievements of GSI. He also said all commitments made by GSI, in the thrust areas of baseline survey and mineral exploration related high priority areas, will be done as per schedule. The director-general also assured that 50 reports will be handed over to respective state governments during the mining conclave for auctioning in December, 2022.
To apprise the Union minister about the GSI’s overall activities and achievements, a presentation was
made by Asit Saha, deputy director, GSI.
Joshi also interacted with the DG, GSI and other senior officers and discussed various issues and emphasised on the speedy completion of flagship baseline survey works like National Geochemical Mapping (NGCM),
National Geophysical Mapping (NGPM) and National Aero-geophysical Mapping Program (NAGMP).
He reiterated that the efforts of GSI should be maximum in mineral exploration activities, especially the
issue of handing over of quality exploration reports to the respective state governments which in turn
would revitalise the mining industry and in turn boost the GDP. The minister also advised
to hold a ‘Chintan Shivir’ in November-December 2022, to churn out new and effective ideas to improve GSI’s performance.
Regarding the Special Campaign 2.0, the minister instructed all to take up the campaign seriously. He also advised senior officials from the ministry to make surprise visits to oversee the
proper implementation of the campaign and instructed that noncompliance may be viewed seriously.
He also emphasised on the immediate implementation of e-office and e-filling systems.
As a part of the Special Campaign 2.0, Joshi inaugurated the Wellness Cafeteria of GSI CHQ, Kolkata.