he NGO Goa Foundation, along with the mining affected people have written to the Union Minister for Mines Pralhad Joshi demanding that the “tinted” erstwhile Goa mining leaseholders should not be granted any iron ore leases and be “blacklisted” for conducting any mining related activities, henceforth.
In a letter addressed to the Minister on Saturday, the stakeholders have also raised question over consulting only the State government and the mining companies to discuss a way out for resumption of iron ore activities in Goa, while ignoring the other stakeholders like the Goa Foundation (GF), green activists, villagers’ from mining belt, dependents and affected parties.
Joshi had on December 3, chaired a crucial meeting in New Delhi to work out a solution to Goa’s mining imbroglio. The meeting was attended by the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant along with the Chief Secretary, Advocate General, Mines Secretary, representative of Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association (GMOEA) and five mining companies.
Addressing media persons, GF director Claude Alvares said via a meeting, it was pretended as if the ore is a private property of the Centre, State and the mining companies. “We have written to the Union Minister condemning the move as it violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. As per the National Mineral Policy 2019, the natural resources, including minerals, are shared inheritance where the State is the trustee on behalf of the people,” he said.
“Since the people of Goa are the owners of the ore, every Goans should benefit from mining. No decision can be taken without consulting the Goans…the dependents as well as the affected once,” he said.
Alvares said that they have requested the Union Minister that the actual stakeholders should be called for the discussions during the next meeting.
The green activist demanded that the leases should not be handed over to the “tinted” erstwhile leaseholders and they should be blacklisted, for all the illegalities they have conducted and pending recoveries from them.
“These mining companies are responsible for all the wrong doings in the mining sector. Mines were not closed down due to Claude Alvares or Manohar Parrikar but due to illegalities done by these miners. If they had not to do the wrong things, even the Supreme Court would have not dared to stop the mining activities,” he said.
Alvares demanded that the Chief Minister should make public the action plan to restart the mining activities in next six months, as announced by him.
While opining that e-auction is not the best practice for mining resumption, Alvares said that the only immediate mandatory step should be setting up of Goa Mineral Development Corporation, which will handle all the mining affairs of the State.
“We insist that all mining leases be kept with the Corporation, and that only the contracts for extraction of ore, with reasonable profit, be tended,” he said, while adding that the government can employ the mining workers as well as the trucks.
