Centre Must Take Goa’s Mining Distress Seriously

Pressure is building up on the Parrikar government and the three members of Parliament from the state for getting the Modi government to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act to restart mining. The Goa Mining People’s Front, a federation of groups representing the interests of the small businesses and workers thrown out of employment owing to mining shutdown since March, on Wednesday took a large number of members to BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party president Deepak Dhavlikar in Ponda to urge them to take the matter to the highest level of the central government so that the amendment to the MMDR Act is done. Deepak Dhavlikar has given an ultimatum to the Parrikar government that unless they resolve the mining issue by December 15, the MGP would withdraw from the ruling alliance. His ultimatum amounts to nothing but extreme posturing in order to gain the sympathy of mining dependants. The MGP did not join the BJP-led government with any preconditions. The interest at the time of making alliance was only continued enjoyment of power. It does not seem likely that the MGP will withdraw from the government on the ground of its failure in getting mining restarted.

However, Deepak Dhavlikar’s ultimatum suggests that the situation with regard to mining dependants is getting out of hand. The Goa Mining People’s Front has been organizing protests for the past several months in order to put pressure on the government. The economic stress owing to the shutdown in the mining belt is apparent. There are thousands of families who were dependent for their income on mining and they have been awaiting its resumption with the hope of earning similar income. According to the state government, there were about 40,000 persons who were dependent on mining. If you take 5 members to a family, it means 8,000 families; if you take 4 members, it means 10,000 families. Ten thousand families in the small state of Goa is a large number. Their economic conditions have been getting worse, despite relief measures taken by the state government on loans and assistance. Small businesses that were not directly related to mining but made their earnings from those engaged in the mining industry have also seen their earnings dip.

It is not easy for the earning members of the 10,000 mining dependent families to find employment in other sectors. Where are job opportunities in the mining area other than mining? In actual fact, it is not just the earning members of the 10,000 mining dependent families who have to find jobs in case mining is shut down. There were many more families that depended on mining during the boom years. Where are employment opportunities even outside the mining areas in case all these mining-displaced workers have to make a livelihood? The state government does not generate so much employment. Besides, government jobs require educational qualification and analytical ability. Private industrial and commercial businesses have their own eligibility criteria and work conditions and they may be located far from the mining belt. All these factors stand against the workers engaged in mining when it comes to a shift from mining to other employment.

The state government is committed to get mining restarted. With no legal options left through the Supreme Court the state government has been trying to get the central government to make an amendment to the MMDR Act. Resumption of mining is in the interest of the state government too. According to official figures, the mining industry contributed about 18 per cent of Goa’s GDP before the shutdown in 2012. When mining was resumed on a controlled scale in 2014-15 its contribution came down to about 5 percent the state GDP. The state government is today facing financial constraints, so much so that it has decided to go slow on the recruitments and curtail expenditures. If mining is resumed, the state government can hope to get more from it in the state GDP.

The state government and the three MPs from the state have done all they could do to impress upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues the urgency and utmost necessity of bringing the amendment to the MMDR Act. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar wrote a letter to the Prime Minister recently. To sum up, the Modi government has no room to say that they do not have all the information and the best of legal advice they need to take the decision to make the amendment. Whether the amendment comes up in the winter session of the Parliament or not depends on how seriously the Modi government views the economic distress of the mining dependants and the financial distress of the state government.