The Goa government had announced that Goa would have Mining Corporation by May 31. For that, the bill was supposed to have been introduced in the previous session of the Assembly in March. That didn’t happen. In June the Law Department sent the bill to the Mines Department for “clarifications” further delaying the bill. It was then supposed to have come up for final cabinet approval in the previous cabinet meeting last week but the matter wasn’t raised. Will it now be finally cleared for to be tabled in the next session of the Assembly in July?
Goans also want to know, why is the bill getting delayed. What is the pressure?
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Goans also want to know, why is the bill getting delayed? Who are the forces trying to delay or stall it? The answer is not difficult to guess if you know what the bill will do. It will clearly take away the power to mine and make profits from the hands of the mining company and hand it over to the government, for the people.
What is more important? To give an opportunity to the same companies and forces (the dons) whose mining activities have been termed totally illegal? …or…
Give opportunity to the people to finally earn from their mineral wealth, mined through a corporation and the money kept secure in a permanent fund for their future generations?
People want to know, does the government have the power to take decisions in favour of the people?
And does the government have the power to take a decision in favour of the people and not the mining companies because they are two separate entities. A mining worker wanting to secure his future is not the same as a big mining company baron wanting to secure his future because that has already been secured long ago, thanks to the leniency of the government which allowed such massive mining loot to take place.
For a worker, it’s a question of survival and securing his children’s future. For a mining baron, even a loss of crores will not make a drop of a difference to his life. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE.
Yes, the mining worker lost livelihood due to the stoppage of mining. But it was due to the acts of illegal mining carried out by the mining companies and entities through whom they earned unlike the shop keepers and small-time businessmen who did everything legally and was economically ruined during the pandemic. Claude Alvares and the Goa Foundation did not stop mining. The Supreme Court stopped illegal mining to save Goa.
WILL THE MINERAL BELONGING TO THE PEOPLE BE PROTECTED BY THE GOVT, AS A TRUSTEE?
Once and for all the people of Goa will know if their government is really for the common mining worker whose livelihood was stopped due to the illegal mining operations of the mining dons, with the government looking the other way. Or will it work for the benefit of the mining dons by going on delaying the Mining Corporation Bill which will pave the way for government-controlled mining. There is a great hope that with Corporation controlled mining, the common mining worker will get employment and his small businesses will run; with the government in charge of the ore, as a trustee of the people.
Once mining is controlled, look what Goans will have:
The govt has earned Rs 1800 crore from e-auctioning 13.50 million tonnes of ore. HOW HAS THAT MONEY BEEN USED? (*April 2021 figures)
This is the money of the people. We need a complete white paper on the exact amount earned, where it has been spent and how the money will be used to help mining workers. This is our money. And there is a plan to keep our money in our control, a plan which has been ignored by all political parties.
Why was the GOENCHI MATI MOVEMENT not adopted by a single political party?
For five years a clear plan to pass on the inheritance of the ore for the people called the GOENCHI MATI MOVEMENT of the Goa Foundation has been ignored by each political party. No one included it in their manifesto of 2017. GOANS are waiting to see who decides to adopt it for the people in 2022.
Goans, for those of you who have forgotten this is to remind you. Those who do not know, this is to inform you. When the next politician comes knocking at your door for votes and with monetary offerings, ask them, where is the money you owe me for my ore?
The Goenchi Mati Movement. Explained
(Source: Goenchi Mati Movement website)
A simple example: If you have a gold chain would you not prevent the theft of the chain so that someday you could give it to your child as his/her inheritance? If you sold it you would keep that money in an FD or use it to buy something else of value that would still be equal to the value of your child’s inheritance. Now see this gold chain = (as equal to) minerals in Goa.
The principles of this belief:
We the people of Goa own the minerals in common. The state government is merely a trustee of natural resources for the people and especially future generations.
As we have inherited the minerals, we are simply custodians and must pass them on to future generations.
Therefore, if we mine and we sell our mineral resources, we must ensure zero loss, i.e. capture of the full economic rent (sale price minus cost of extraction, cost including reasonable profit for miner). Any loss is a loss to all of us and our future generations.
All the money received from our minerals must be saved in the Goenchi Mati Permanent Fund, as already implemented all over the globe. Like the minerals, the Permanent Fund will also be part of the commons. The Supreme Court has ordered the creation of a Permanent Fund for Goan iron ore and already Rs 94 crore has been deposited.
Any real income (after inflation) from the Goenchi Mati Permanent Fund must only be distributed to all as a right of ownership, a Citizen’s Dividend.
All Goans are asking is recover the loss due to illegal mining. It is the people’s loss and they want their money back.
The Supreme Court itself ruled that the last five years of mining before the ban was fully illegal! 100% illegal.
Goa Foundation estimates that the system of mining leases has resulted in the loss of over 95% of the value of our minerals.
Ore and dumps worth over Rs. 10,000 crore became the property of the state. That should come to the people.
Each Goan has lost Rs 10 lakh due to illegal mining or roughly Rs 40 lakh per family.
According to minute calculations by the Goenchi Mati Movement, the amount recoverable is Rs 65,000 crore. The estimated projected loss of renewing the leases of a further 88 mines (later struck down by the court) would have cost another Rs 79,000 crore. This amounts to Rs 144,000 crore or Rs 10 lakh per Goan.
All this money must be deposited in the Permanent Fund or the Goenchi Mati Permanent Fund to ensure it covers all minerals and benefits all people.
A win-win for all except monopoly mining companies
– Mining dependents will benefit
– Mining affected will benefit
– Government of Goa will benefit
– People of Goa will benefit
– Future citizens of Goa will benefit
– Miners can work only as contractors and get up to 20% return but can no longer loot
Always remember, we have inherited the minerals and we owe it to our future generations. We are simply custodians and must pass it to them.
Goa has regained its greenery, its rivers and its lush green fields after mining has stopped. Let political parties pledge to protect it.
GOANS REFUSE TO BE ROBBED ANYMORE
There is enough money for Goans, only if the loot is recovered. Future mining can be totally controlled. Need and not greed should decide on how much to mine. Remember before choices are made next year people must ask parties if they agree to recover the mining loot and hand it over to the people and have a government-run corporation to control all mining activities.
