Cong MLAs likely to join protest of mining dependants in Delhi

MARGAO: Leader of Opposition Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavlekar has said that he and other Congress MLAs would be holding a special Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting on the issue of supporting the mining-dependent people during their protest, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi from December 8 to 12.

Kavlekar made the comment after representatives of the Goa Mining People’s Front presented a memorandum to him requesting him and the other Congress MLAs to join them during their protest.

“Mining is an issue that affects so many people and families and we as a party are with the mining-dependent people. We will have a special CLP meeting and request all our MLAs to join us for the protest to be held in Delhi. We have even asked our All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Chellakumar to join us,” he said.

Kavlekar also said that a letter had been written to Governor Mridula Sinha requesting her to hold a special assembly session specifically to discuss the issue of mining in the state.

“If one member of a family is a mining dependant, the entire family has to bear the brunt of this problem and this is a serious issue. We have written to the Governor asking for a special assembly session, but nothing has happened so far. We have also asked BJP state unit chief Vinay Tendulkar to intervene by seeking an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi but nothing has happened on that front too,” said Kavlekar adding that an all-party meeting should be held with the Prime Minister to ensure a quick restart to the mining activity in the state. Meanwhile, Prasad Bandhare, a member of the Goa Mining People’s Front, while presenting the memorandum to Kavlekar, said bringing an amendment to the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act was the best option to restart mining in the state.

“Around 500 members from the organisation will be present for the protest at Ram Lila Maidan and Jantar Mantar from December 8 to 12. The way we see it, bringing an amendment is the only way we can restart mining in the state because the formation of a corporation as asked for by the Supreme Court will take a very long time and will not give any benefit to us,” said Bandhare.