GMPF urges guv, CM to pursue mining restart

Panaji: Goa Mining People’s Front (GMPF) has urged governor Satya Pal Malik and chief minister Pramod Sawant to continue their efforts towards resumption of mining, a sector that provides livelihood to three lakh people in the state.
Recently, both the governor and chief minister had written to the prime minister and Union home minister seeking amendment to the relevant act to give mining leases extension up to 2037 and resume activities in the state.
GMPF president Puti Gaonkar requested the governor for an urgent meeting.
“We wish to bring to his notice that immediate resumption of the mining industry is very crucial for restoring the state economy and saving livelihoods of lakhs of people who are directly and indirectly dependent on mining for survival,” Gaonkar said.
GMPF stated that resumption of mining will not only help boost the state’s economy, which has lost Rs 3,500 crore per year due to stoppage of the industry, but will also provide it relief in the current Covid-19 pandemic situation that has further “intensified the tragic economic condition of the state”.
The body which represents the cause of lakhs of people gainfully employed in the mining industry pointed to the state’s borrowing, which stands at an all-time high of Rs 20,000 crore, and has increased debt in the past two years.
The state witnessed a similar sharp spike in debt levels during the period from 2012 to 2016, when mining activities had stopped, GMPF said.
Resumption of mining in the state can further augment the national foreign exchange reserves to approximately Rs 6,000 crore amid the present economic downturn on account of Covid-19, GMPF said.
“We also request the governor not to give undue importance to utopian ideas being put across by some NGOs as we believe that the present solution for mining resumption as suggested by him and the government of Goa led by chief minister is done after considering the interest of the state and its people,” Gaonkar said.