VASCO: Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai on Sunday said Goa is facing an “emergency-like” situation due to mining crisis following the recent Supreme Court judgment cancelling 88 mining leases and halting iron ore extraction from March 15.
“Currently, Goa is facing an “emergency-like” situation in Goa and hence it is expected from elected representatives or political parties which are in the ruling coalition to behave responsibly,” he said.
He said, “At the moment we are in a situation where in 12,000 people working as truck drivers are going to be out of jobs from March 15. Similarly, retrenchment has been staring at one-and-half lakh people who are directly or indirectly dependent on the mining industry. At the same time, we have a chief minister, who is ailing in the hospital. We also have a responsibility that he does not get stressed out there. It’s our responsibility to carefully tackle the situation by taking the people and stakeholders into confidence and I believe that we are doing it,” Sardesai claimed.
“This is a transition period and it is also something which is challenging. Due to closure of mining, a large section of society would be affected. It will have a huge social impact but for this, the state government is not at fault. It was Supreme Court that took such a decision. Earlier, the apex court imposed a ban on bars where the government had no role to play and now it’s the mining issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, responding to the statement made by Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) president Pandurang ‘Deepak’ Dhavalikar that his party is ready for election anytime, Sardesai said that people of the State do not want elections every now and then, as holding one election means paralysing the pace of development and still if any leader makes a statement that he is ready for elections then it only means that he is not working towards the interest of State.
“First of all, I want to inform that this government by and large, is working on Common Minimum Programme and is safe. Secondly, it is easy for leaders to make statements but forming a government and that too by compromising on various fronts is not easy, as one needs to be ready to do sacrifices and we have done this sacrifice,” Sardesai informed reporters after inaugurating new ‘CareGoa’ clinic opened by a group of doctors in Vasco on Sunday.
“If elections are held tomorrow, I will contest as I am not scared. But the issue is that stability is a responsibility of governance. You cannot show that you are unstable. You cannot be threatening and say ‘my way or the highway’. This doesn’t work, so we all alliance partners have a responsibility towards providing the governance that Goans deserve”, he said.
“The way MGP president has been making a statement foreseeing early Assembly polls along with general elections, has no weightage. And if he has been making statement on his party’s readiness for early elections within a year’s time, then he is irresponsible socially because holding elections costs money. We have to speak responsibly as this government has not completed a year and few leaders have already started talking about elections. This is responsible democracy and you cannot talk that way,” Sardesai said.
“We had done a positive compromise with whom we had fought to form this government under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar. This was for the good of Goem, Goenkar and Goenkarponn and whatever we had promised to the voters we were able to deliver. Regarding the issue to install Dr Jack de Sequeira’s statue in the Assembly complex we were not able to create a consensus but we will keep trying,” he said.
