PANJIM: RTI activist Sudip Tamhankar has demanded that the government should nominate he and two others, who had challenged renewal of mining leases in the Supreme Court be nominated as board of directors of the proposed Goa Mining Development Corporation and that they will act as watchdogs in mining operations.
Reacting to the State government’s decision to establish the Goa Mining Development Corporation to resume mining operations, Tamhankar said that if the government’s intention is clear then it should nominate Rama Velip, Goa Foundation Director Dr Claude Alvares and himself as board of directors of the Corporation and the government will be rest assured that they will act effectively as watchdogs.
Tamhankar alleged that the State government had till date not formulated mining policy for Goa where it would have spelt out its plan either to set up Mining Corporation to auction mining leases.
Stating that the government should first formulate mining policy for Goa, he pointed out that in the past the then Advocate General and even counsels appointed by the government had told the Supreme Court that the government will frame the mining policy and auction the leases. If the government wanted to formulate mining policy then how can it go ahead with the proposed Goa Mining Development Corporation?, he asked.
