The Congress in Goa appears to be changing tacks, very suddenly and very swiftly. After having first demanded for a one-day Assembly session where the government would have to prove its majority, the Congress has now written to the Governor requesting her to call a session to discuss the mining issue and work out an immediate solution that will lead to the resumption of iron ore mining activities in Goa. The reasoning of the opposition party is that the Assembly should convey this demand of the people of Goa and mount pressure on the Union Government to find that elusive solution to restart mining operations.
In other circumstances this would appear to be a reasonable demand from an opposition party, but in the current political atmosphere, where there is but a semblance of governance, and where the opposition party has been shouting from the rooftops that it has the majority, such a demand is incongruous to the situation. After having maintained that there has been a failure of governance and that there is no government in the State, the Congress in its latest letter states, ‘This current scenario is worrisome and requires urgent intervention from the government of Goa,’ almost an admission that there is a working government, which is the opposite of what it has been saying all this while.
Instead of attacking the government on the issue of mining restart, which is expected, here we have an opposition party looking to share the victory spoils should the Union government give in and make the required changes in the Acts as demanded by the State’s political leaders.
That the government is most unlikely to do, and Congress clearly states in the letter that they are aware that the Government of India has ‘categorically rejected the demand of early resumption of the mining business activities in Goa with much needed amendments in the current MMDR act through
ordinance’. So what is Congress looking to gain through this one-day Assembly session? Possibly, nothing other than some media coverage. And that is a reason why, where mining resumption is concerned, all the statements being made are nothing by promises in the air by the politicians to remain in the news and convey to the mining affected that they are on the case, and doing everything possible to restart operations.
Look at it another way. Do we need another resolution to urge the Union government to act on mining? Just over three months ago, in August last when the Assembly was in session, it had unanimously resolved to urge the Central government to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act 1957 and Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concession (Abolition and Declaration of Mining Leases) Act 1987, explaining that this would extend the life of leases till 2037 and hence allow mining operations to commence. If the Centre has not acted on this resolution yet, despite the numerous trips made by the local politicians to Delhi to impress upon the central leadership on the urgency of restarting mining operations in Goa, will another resolution help?
This is not the end of the story of mining resumption in Goa. This is one issue that the Goan politicians across the spectrum are going to milk dry as long as they can to remain in the news and try to stay relevant. However, not a single one of them has been demanding that action be taken against those politicians who authorised the second renewal of leases that has been struck down by the Supreme Court as illegal and the reason why mining operations are stopped. Why isn’t Congress, in opposition now and in opposition when the decision was taken, taking up this demand?
