31 Jul 2021  |   06:08am IST

THE MINING CORPORATION IS A PEOPLE’S CORPORATION. SO DON’T PLAY

Mining by govt is not a favour, it’s a hard-earned people’s victory; Let there be no games and tricks to get the same mining players back in business; This is the people’s business and let mining be all about people now
THE MINING CORPORATION IS A PEOPLE’S CORPORATION. SO DON’T PLAY

The Mining Corporation is not a gift from the Goa government. It is a people’s victory over both government and the mining dons who held complete control over our minerals and resources. It is a victory given to us by Claude and Adv Norma Alvares who spent close to 15 years fighting illegal mining and the absolute loot and plunder of our resources. 

Many do not know how the Alvares couple used to take overnight buses to Pune to fight NGT cases for Goa spend the whole day in court and take the night bus back to Goa to save on time and expenses. Each of the hundreds of hearings, petitions and court battles across various courts in Goa, Pune and Delhi has led to the final cancellation and end of all leases. 

The minerals belong to us and the leases should be handed over to the Corporation. There should be no question of any auction

Let’s get this straight. The Mining Corporation under any circumstances should not participate in any auction for any lease in Goa along with other private mining companies. As mooted by Claude Alvares of Goa Foundation, the Goa government should reserve all iron ore (and manganese) mining to be done solely by the government corporation under the mines and minerals act. This is exactly what Narendra Modi had done when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat for bauxite mining.

CM Pramod Sawant has made people-friendly gestures towards the flood-affected. 

He announced a decent compensation for those who have lost a home due to flood of Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh and more for the destruction of houses, about a lakh rupees for major damages and at least Rs 25 to Rs 30 thousand for those with fewer losses. People are sure and expect that this same sentiment will also help those who have suffered mining losses and Goa’s future mining would be done keeping people in mind and recovering all dues from the mining companies.

The intention to ensure all mining would be done by the corporation and not any rather private mining don should have been clear in the Mining Corporation bill. It was not

Without fail and immediately, the control has to be taken over by the government-controlled mining corporation. The government is under a promise and under the direction of the Courts which has given justice. The people, of Goa, have fought hard. Both on the streets and in the courts. Can we forget the struggle of activists who put their bodies before mining trucks in the mining villages? They need to be honoured. But the people of Goa do not want to come on the streets in a lawful but strong manner or fight any ten-year battle in court. They will not let it happen. 

AND HERALD WILL BE WITH THE PEOPLE.

Do understand how this battle was won. If the current amount owed by the mining companies with penalties and interest to the government for illegal mining and operations of leases and given to the people, each adult Goan will have approximately Rs 5 lakh each in their account (calculated based on the value of ore mined and sold mainly from the 88 leases that were illegally renewed). And this is just one part of the overall dues.

The government itself has officially raised a demand for Rs 3431 crore which include amounts identified by the CAG. This amount needs to be recovered and put in the kitty of the corporation. It is this money that should be the first corpus fund to run the affairs of the Corporation. The government should not send more people’s money into the corporation or force it to borrow funds, when so much of the people’s money, looted by the mining dons needs to be returned to the people. And since this is a people’s corporation the money must be returned to this account.

If people can be jailed for not paying GST, why should those who owe thousands of crores be allowed to go scot-free?

If a hardworking honest industrialist or businessman does not manage to pay his GST on time not only does he have to pay a fine of 300 per cent of the amount due, but liable to be put behind bars. And these cases have indeed happened. So, if a mining company making profits of hundreds of crores through illegal mining is asked to pay by the government as a recovery, why is the punishment not just as harsh? If a Goan owned businessman fails to pay his income tax, all his assets are seized and frozen to recover the dues. As Claude Alvares said, “The losses that the state faced as its mineral resources, which belong to the people were looted should be recovered by freezing the assets of those who need to pay these dues.” Clearly, there cannot be any scope for non-payment here.

And till these mining dues are recovered and paid in full by the mining companies, there should play absolutely no role in any aspect of the corporation or any of its processes

The recovered money should be used to first pay the hardworking mining workers who have lost their jobs. Their lives have to be out on track. And as Goa Foundation has recommended in its response to the formation of the mining corporation, “First recruit all employees and workers of the mining industry that has been irrevocably shut down by a series of Supreme Court orders. These employees and workers not only need the employment, they are the persons fully competent to advise and manage mining in the State, as they performed this job when working with private companies earlier.”

So what the corporation needs to do is directly recruit workers and professionals and not go through mining companies.

Apart from political influence, there should be no conflict of interest. Goans need to see professions who are not a part of any existing Goan mining company to be onboard

We see that the Board of the Mining Corporation will be full of department secretaries who are IAS officers and headed by the Chief Minister as Chairperson. But where are the professionals. There is not a single mining engineer on board. The Board has to have subject experts with years of experience and can’t be full of political and government appointees. This is not any government corporation. This should run like a well-oiled professional set up which is in the business of sustainable mining, in a clean non-corrupt way. The Chief Minister himself has been a part of the mining industry and there could be an apparent conflict of interest. In any other country in the world, members of the board and the head of any government body discloses any professional or personal conflicts of interest before taking up  such positions, and if there is a conflict they do not take this up. The same is done by judges if they have a conflict with certain matters. The same should apply to the mining corporation.

For maximum checks and balances have Claude Alvares on the Board of the Mining Corporation

Most importantly, since this has been formed with the efforts of Claude and Norma Alvares and they understand how the mess was created and solutions, Claude Alvares should be invited to be on the board of the mining corporation as a noted environmentalist and Advocate Norma Alvares as the legal advisor.

Then the back door influence of industry bodies like GCCI and industrialists should be stopped 

The post of Managing Director plus any other contract for any mining operation should be kept away from any industry or industry body that will try and use their influence to be a part of this new system. Take the GCCI for instance. The managing committee of the GCCI and its president find a seat in so many government departments and corporations, including departments that may directly deal with their businesses. They have an inside ring position and can influence decision making. Let this not happen in the Mining Corporation at all. 

Does the Chief Minister know this? If he is not aware, let him be now and ensure that undue and unhealthy influence of these external bodies like GCCI is removed immediately.  And they cannot find any place in the mining corporation, since the GCCI does have many people with mining interests. Nor can there be any room for political and business fixers who do settings for companies like professionals. We do not want this kind of ‘professionals’.

We have suffered enough. We do not want any manipulation and profit-making by mining dons who owe the state crores of rupees

Let us remember. These big mining companies have influence over the transport route from the mining pits to the water and the ports. They have leased land from the Captain of Ports for jetties. They also have leased land to put mining dumps. If the government can acquire land of the people for the railway double-tracking project to transport harmful coal which is destroying Goa, they can surely acquire and take over all assets and land controlled by the big mining companies for their earlier mining operations and take them over.

This is a government corporation. But it’s a result of a people’s movement. The CM and the govt should never forget that

This needs absolutely powerful and strong leadership from CM Pramod Sawant and people are looking up to him. He has to deliver. Imagine if there was CM like Mamata Banerjee here. Do you think any political or industrial lobby or mining don would have had the guts to interfere and influence this mining corporation? Goans want to see the same amount of strength and no-nonsense approach from the Chief Minister.

People should be at the heart of all governance

Those who have an interest in international history will know the story of late Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu the President of Romania and his wife. Apart from other charges against them, the wealth they accumulated with bathrooms full of gold and crystals was also one of the reasons for the people's anger against corruption and greed from those in public offices.

Goa’s mining has been dominated by greed and corruption. It is the responsibility of the mining corporation to change all that and be a People’s Mining Corporation.

 


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar