Herald welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi to its land and handpicks three issues that need to be addressed and closed for Goa to chant his mantra “Acche din aaane wale hain” (Good days will be here again) – The Regional Plan, Resumption of Mining and Special Status for Goa. The last two were raised by him during his election rally in Merces on January 12, 2014. Team Herald takes 360 degree look at the three issues
Regional Plan: Only semantics, no solutions
The Prime Minister may not quite understand the sentiments around the issue of notifying a final fool proof people centric Regional Plan, but he should know this. That all developmental (read construction projects) activity in Goa is being done on the basis of an ad-hoc arrangement of using the archaic 2001 plan as the reference plan for land use, keeping on hold the notified Regional Plan of 2021. Construction projects continue to be passed on the basis of this ad hoc arrangement while people wait for a debate, and discussion around specific land use issues in their villages. We present below all the different voices and promises made on the plan, most of it in the assembly
l Nov 17, 2011 Parrikar : Suspend the plan for six months, don’t scrap. But scrap the unacceptable and questionable.
l March 22, 2012: Governor’s address “My government will de-notify the Regional Plan 2021 and formulate one (meaning a new one) in due consultation with all stakeholders.”
l April 9, 2012 : Date of TCP Order on RP 2021(issued on June 4, 2012) :
l RP-2001 to be used as a reference plan for land use. But FAR policy and categorisation of panchayats as per RP-2021,
l “All projects, proposals based on RP-2021 to be kept in abeyance wef 20.3. 2012
l All applications decided prior to 9.4. 2012 shall be allowed to be executed. (This is in conflict with the point above)
l July 19, 2012: Manohar Parrikar in the assembly :
l “We have kept 2021 valid as of now but we are restricting it to 2001. Both exams have to be passed. (Paraphrasing the next bit: if something (land use etc) is in 2021 but not in 2001, not permitted. If something in 2001 but not in 2021; not permitted). This is only a temporary measure. This is not a permanent measure. There is “No need to panic. After six months a full plan will be ready, that will be final.”
l Parrikar in the assembly:
l From August 15 to September 15, (2012) we will keep it (RP-2021) open for general suggestions. We will issue you letters, we will publish it in the papers and everyone will have an opportunity of putting his views across.”
l December 14, 2012: Parrikar at a meeting of Friends of Good Governance – Government machineries would not have been in a position to handle two serious and sensitive issues, at a time. Hence, I had to hold back the work on the Regional Plan 2021, which I intended to finalise within six months, as it clashed with the contentious issue of mining.
l From December 2012 to June 2014 there has been no movement. As per Manohar Parrrikar’s promise to the assembly the new plan was supposed to be ready in January 2013.
Manohar Parrikar to Herald on Regional Plan (excerpts from his interview to Sujay Gupta in April this year)
Herald: Before we go to issues of land and power, can an investment policy be formulated without finalizing the Regional Plan. Why are you refusing to touch the Regional Plan?
Parrikar: It’s not that. Thousands would have been on my head if the plan was finalised earlier, asking for changes and conversions. There was no time to attend to it. I have to look at from all sides. If any changes or conversions are sought in the name of development, the money has to come to the state. The new plan will have those changes
Herald: But what about certain fundamentals. Land cannot be acquired or earmarked if the Regional Plan or a land use policy is finalized
Parrikar: The Regional Plan is not needed for this additional land. I can share with you that we will soon introduce an Act where the government can buy land directly from private individuals at market rates. We will not buy agricultural land but there is enough orchard and other barren land in private hands that can be sold.
Mining Resumption: Where even hopes are on loan
Will the people involved in mining get their loans waived off? Or not? The mining industry is in the doldrums after an almost 2 year hiatus. The ban has been lifted; but when full-fledged mining activities – including extraction – will resume is anybody’s guess. And most importantly, the road map for the renewal of mining leases, the single most important activity for mining to restart is hazy and contradictory
The loan situation is quite grim especially as the banks have started issuing recall notices.
While all mining related advances could touch as much as 1,800 crore, loans of people like truckers or barge owners including interest is likely to be in the region of Rs 800 crore (including interest).
Will the Modi led NDA give a UPA type loan waiver (central government’s 2008 Rs 60,000 crore farm loan waiver) to farmers in Vidharbha.
Recent media reports put the data as around 214 barge loans with the total dues of Rs 340 odd crore and 4,745 tuck loan accounts with a total outstanding of almost Rs 360 odd crore.
Truckers and barge owners have been pushing for a loan waiver while banks want a guarantee to the mining sector from the State Government.
Banks also want waiver of interest and partial waiver of principal.
Mining assurances:
• January 12, 2014 election campaign meeting at Merces: – Narendra Modi’s endorsement of auctioning as the best possible mode for using national resources.
Modi on Mining:
Used the A word- ‘Auctioning’ of mining leases at Merces rally
According to Modi he and the Gujarat government were pushing for public auctioning of natural resources so as get maximum benefit, but the United Progressive Alliance government was against the policy and was therefore, encouraging corruption.
Modi did not say that Goa mines would be auctioned but said that his demand to auction lime stone mines of Gujarat was rejected by the Centre.
He assured the audience that there would be transparency in the mining industry if the BJP is voted to power while giving an example of his wish to auction the lime stone mines.
“Mining is very important for the economy of Goa. Infrastructure, human resource and raw material is necessary for mining but the raw material remained unutilized,” Modi said assuring ‘the situation will change in next few months. We will take care of environment and bring transparency in the mining for the country’s growth.”
Parrikar on mining
90% of e auction amount to be spent on
waiving loans of mining dependent
• During his election campaign he promised a new package for mining; “To help mining-dependent people the government will spend the money collected from the e-auction of confiscated iron ore,” had told media, promising that 90% of this amount will be spent to waive off the loans of mining-dependent people.”
• The state government has made a provision of Rs 150 crore in the budget.
• Parrikar after the Supreme Court lifted mining ban- April 25: “I do not remember Modi saying it should be auctioned. But if he has, it will be considered.”
• Parrikar to MoEF: Ten years time to be given phase out mining activities rather than banning it in one shot. “
Contradictions on the road map for lease renewals
The Chief Minister said: Policy for renewal of mining leases on the directions of the Supreme Court to be formed.
Director Mines Prasanna Acharya said: “The government has decided to just amend its existing Goa Mineral Policy 2013 rather than draft a fresh document” This is important since the draft policy envisages lease renewals in a scenario which existed before the Supreme Court judgment. This process has been termed illegal by the Apex Court
DEAR PM, THIS IS WHAT SPECIAL STATUS MEANS TO US
Goa is a small land, a beautiful land. But one that is increasingly lost to its own people. In the 90’s people with money descended with bags and managed to lure Goans into selling their ancestral lands – mostly fruit bearing orchard lands – for what locals thought was big bucks. But, mostly locals got cheated and non Goans managed to make a lot of money at the cost of gullible and not very business minded Goans with very few exceptions. Goans were tempted by unholy nexus of businessman, politicians and a few lakhs in cash to tie up their lands and mostly stuck in one-sided agreements to their shock. And any effort to enforce was met with muscle power and backed by political power – many times from across the borders.
Around that time arose a movement to try and salvage what was left.
Special status was the late Mathany Saldanha’s dream. The idealist activist politician and founder of the Goa’s Movement for Special Status would wax eloquent of the topic given half an opportunity.
Today his wife Alina is an MLA in his place and has threatened that she would resign if special status was not granted to Goa if the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power at the Centre.
In a memorandum to the prime minister’s office last June, sometime after the Assembly passed an unanimous resolution empowering the state government to seek special status under Article 371 of the constitution, the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had brought in Jawaharlal Nehru:
“Drawing a parallel with French possessions in India, Nehru had acknowledged history and given Pondicherry and Goa an identity different from the rest of India. The Goans were assured that they shall have freedom to retain their unique identity in a manner wished by Goa’s people,” the memorandum said.
Parrikar had also specifically mentioned that the state was not seeking special status for financial benefits, but to preserve and protect its unique identity as large scale migration is diluting the Goan identity, apart from changing the demography.
Mathany too had been against a financial package arguing that Special Status would give a lot more benefits to Goa and the move to seek only a financial package to Goa as proposed by some of political leaders is like opting to travel in a second class local train by rejecting place in first class air conditioned compartment of a super express train.
The Congress too has urged the chief minister to ask Modi for special status with Shantaram Naik, Congress MP saying that he would like the Chief Minister to place a “forceful demand before prime minister for special status by amending Article 371 of Constitution of India.”
