Goa CM Pramod Sawant's govt completes six months today, no sign of mining resumption

PANAJI: Even as the BJP government has completed six months in office, it is yet to resume mining activities as promised in its party election manifesto ahead of the 2022 assembly elections.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant was sworn in with eight cabinet ministers on March 28. The government completes six months on Wednesday.
Goa Mining People's Front (GMPF) president Puti Gaonkar said that this government has taken the people for granted as they always stood with BJP in elections. "We have to wait now to see when mining resumes in the state," Gaonkar said.
Mining in Goa came to a halt in March 2018 following the decision of the Supreme Court to quash the second renewal of 88 mining leases. In January, Union home minister Amit Shah had said that BJP would resume mining activities in Goa within six months of forming the government.
"I want to say that after the election, through e-auctioning in a transparent manner, Goa's mining industry will function with double force," Shah had said, addressing a public meeting in the mining belt constituency of Sanvordem.
The BJP manifesto also mentioned that "within six months of returning to office, we will start mining in the state through the Goa Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) and auction of iron ore blocks through transparent leasing and by following the due process of law".
The GMDC, which was formed to restart mining activities, is yet to become fully functional even as the Act for its formation was passed a year ago during the monsoon session. The Act was passed by the assembly on July 30, 2021, and the governor granted his assent in September.
That same month, the corporation was formed, but till date, there is no official order of appointment for its chairman and board of directors. As per the Act, the chief minister is the chairman of the corporation. The government is also yet to frame rules for the corporation's functioning.
In December, the BJP government granted approval to a new policy for handling of mining dumps outside and inside leases through auctioning by the state government, and allowing lessees to handle dumps to restart mining activities. However, this has not yet been implemented.