TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goa Electronics Limited (GEL) on Tuesday announced that all applications received under the Mining Affected/Impacted Relief Scheme 2012 would be cleared by December 31. Currently, there are 321 applications pending under the truck owners category and another 359 under the unemployed category of the scheme, showing that the scheme has no takers even as it was projected that four lakh people would be on the streets.
GEL has thus far, recommended financial assistance to 6,456 truck owners and 889 unemployed youth who were affected by the mining closure. A total of 7092 applications have been received from truck owners and 2464 from the unemployed since the scheme started on March 9. Of these, GEL has rejected 150 applications of truck owners and 1071 applications of unemployed citing various reasons.
The government will be spending approximately around Rs 75.85 crore on the mining affected beneficiaries. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has already announced that the scheme that lapsed on October 5 would be extended either by another year or until the time mining operations resume in Goa.
“By December 31, the government will be sanctioning payments to approximately 6942 applicant truck owners and about 1393 unemployed,” GEL chairman Dattaprasad Naik said.
The above unemployment figures indicates that though there was a hue and cry over the survival of mining-dependent people, the fact is that even nine months after the schemes were launched, they have had few takers. The Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) an umbrella organization of mining-dependent people, has been reportedly claiming that survival of around four lakh people is at stake due to suspension of mining business.
Under the scheme, truck or tipper owners are provided assistance of Rs 8000 on the first truck and Rs 4000 on the second vehicle every month, while a jobless mining worker is given Rs 12,000 assistance per month
1 GEL has thus far, recommended financial assistance to 6,456 truck owners and 889 unemployed youth
2The government will be spending approximately around Rs 75.85 crore on the mining affected beneficiarie
3The unemployment figures indicates that though there was a hue and cry over the survival of mining-dependent people, the fact is that even nine months after the schemes were launched, they have had few takers.
