How to be a Good Goan Ancestor

Reclaim the Commons picnic 2020 organised by the Goenchi Mati Movement

We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children The intergenerational equity principle offers a criteria to judge whether we have been good ancestors to our children and the countless future generations to follow. The principle of Intergenerational Equity (IE) is, at its heart, quite simple. It is our duty to ensure future generations …

The Great Goan Mining Heist: Implications of the 2014 Supreme Court Judgement Ruling

Over the last ten years mining losses have been variously reported and unsubstantiated estimates touted. In among all of this, one thing is certain: the trend is consistently upwards. Amounts have been quoted from Rs. 3,500 crores due to non-payment of royalty (PAC Report) to Rs. 35,000 crores due to mining outside lease areas (Shah Commission). However the latest official …

Announcing the Goenchi Mati Creatathon

Kokum, a design non-profit, is hosting a Creatathon for the Goenchi Mati campaign. We are thrilled! Its all day on sat&sun, 16&17 July, 2016, at the Design Center, Porvorim. There is also a talk on thursday 7th July, 2016 at 6:30pm the same venue introducing the idea and updating everyone on the current status. Be creative & have some fun if …

Minerals – who are the beneficial owners

In an earlier post, we had discussed who owns minerals in India under the Constitution. In broad terms, state governments usually own onshore minerals, all offshore minerals are owned by the union government. There are two additional aspects of minerals to consider, the public trust doctrine and the intergenerational equity principle. The Public Trust Doctrine, an integral part of common law …

Scroll : Goa mining judgement is a first

A beautiful, albeit dated, summary by Mridula Chari of the unprecedented nature of the Goa mining judgement for we the people, our children, and our future generations. “Observing that natural resources belonged to the state, which is a trustee of its citizens, the court ordered that a part of the profits from the sale of iron ore be set aside for a permanent …

P2P Foundation blogs on the Goenchi Mati campaign

David Bollier, author, activist, blogger and consultant on the commons, calls the Supreme Court order in the Goa mining case setting up the Permanent Fund as a bold precedent, “the first time that a court anywhere had ordered such a remedy, and it resulted in the first permanent fund in India.” Something Goa should be proud of!