TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The resolution demanding Special status for Goa under Article 371 of the Constitution of India and immediate commencement of legal mining in the state was put before the crucial national executive committee meeting of BJP, that concluded on Sunday.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters that resolution for restarting of legal mining and demanding a financial package for rehabilitation of people affected by mining closure was put before the national executive.
Earlier, BJP spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain confirmed that the Goa chief minister had put up a resolution demanding Special Status for Goa. “It is a long pending demand of BJP and it was discussed during the meeting,” he said.
The chief minister, who had moved the resolution on Special Status and mining before the state legislative assembly’s budget session, was supposed to meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh with the demands in the first week of June.
The failure to get a confirmation from Prime Minister’s Office has delayed his visit.
BJP led government had been demanding Special Status considering Goa’s geographical limitations in protecting its available resources. While in the case of mining, lakhs of people are jobless and starving for their livelihood due to halting of mining activities by Supreme Court, last year.
