PANJIM: Principal Secretary (Mines) Daulat Hawalkar has said that the Permanent Iron Ore Fund deposits would be used to help the low-income groups in the mining sector, which has been shut following a Supreme Court direction.
“Mining is an exhaustible resource, and hence suggestions have been made to utilize the Permanent Iron Ore Fund deposits to help low-income people associated with this industry,” he said participating in a roundtable discussion on their livelihoods, an event organized by Goa Livelihoods Forum at Kala Academy on Saturday.
Hawaldar also observed that there is considerable inequality in the world such as gender pay gap while also livelihoods of farmers are being threatened everyday and laborers have become nomadic. He reiterated that labour costs are mounting in agricultural sector as dignity of labour is going down.
Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund was constituted following SC directions based on a petition filed by NGO Goa Foundation. Ten percent of the total amount equivalent to the royalty payment is being deposited in the fund.
Prafulla Samantara, a leading Green activist, emphasised on the adopting sustainable growth in Goa. He advised that Goa should have a natural resource policy which will usher in a new era of development.
Samantara further said that it is of utmost importance that the development of agriculture and indigenous practices should be pursued conjointly to diminish the inequality in Goa and emphasised on responsible industrialization and conscious development.
President of MAIT Nitin Kunkolienker lamented that Goa has no IT policy and hasn’t implemented the Start-Up policy yet.
The association organized the roundtable on “Livelihood Challenges, Opportunities and Sustainable Goals” to foster in-depth deliberations operating on the premise of livelihoods; sustainability in Goa and to cogitate over possible solutions for tackling the issue in Goa.
