The Future We Need
The US state of Louisiana will be voting on a number of proposed Constitutional amendments on Nov 8. Proposed amendment #5 is for the establishment of a Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, essentially a Permanent Fund to deal with the volatility of inflows from oil & gas. Of course, if government accounting were to treat money from minerals as capital, not …
Zero loss mining and intergenerational equity A loss amounting to twice the cumulative state revenues was uncovered following an investigation into mining activities by Goa Foundation. This money represents the value of minerals mined and exported during the period 2004 to 2012 from Goa. The amount represents a Rs. 3.7 Lakhs loss of mineral assets for each and every Goan; …
The five principles of the Goenchi Mati Movement What would you say if you were told that each and every member of your family had been unceremoniously and consistently robbed over an eight-year period to the tune of Rupees 3.7 Lakhs? A theft of inherited wealth, passed down through the generations, now almost beyond recovery and the perpetrators yet to …
Finally we have a Satellite based Mining Surveillance System that was launched on 15th Oct, 2016 by the Govt. of India to curb any illegal mining activities in the country. This kind of a system was one of our key supporting recommendations from the movement. http://www.gizmodo.in/indiamodo/Surveillance-System-To-Monitor-Illegal-Mining-Launched/articleshow/54894906.cms
A simple change that will save countless lives In most sovereign nations, sub-soil minerals are owned by the state. The minerals are a part of the “commons” – assets owned ultimately by the citizens. The problem we face is that the standards set for IMF, UN & IPSASB (International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board) standards for government accounting, statistics and disclosure treat receipts from …
Since minerals are such large stores of wealth, extreme transparency is required to safeguard it. We strongly recommend that the Goa government must adopt best in class transparency and control standards. How else will the common citizen know how their inheritance was used? The Extractive Industry (aka mining) has over 40 transparency initiatives such as EITI and PWYP. The World Bank and UNEP …
As mining recommences, Shweta Kamat writes in the Herald about the expectations of the mining companies (a higher cap, mining corridor, reducing or removing the levy for the permanent fund and a bigger transportation window). The truck owners want a higher transportation rate. But what do Goans want? Do we want more environmental damage? Do we want to lose more of our mineral …
Sarah McGinnis writes about our Goenchi Mati Movement in the Sunday Herald Review today. She also explains the five points at the core of our movement: Minerals are owned by the people & the state is only a trustee on behalf of the people and future generations Minerals are inherited assets and we are merely custodians for future generations If we …
The CAG’s performance audit report on mining in Goa was recently released. Of the 88 leases renewed, only 3 leases were executed and registered by July 2015 (the last were renewed on 12-Jan-2015). Large errors were observed in the stamp duty amount collected in two cases. The stamp duty to be collected was Rs. 14.25 crores. Instead, only Rs. 9.75 crores …
The Financial Express reports that the CAG’s Performance Audit of mining in Odisha has found 17 companies benefiting to the extent of Rs. 9,000 crores. Further, the Integrated Mines & Minerals Management System (i3MS), considered the best in India, is far from satisfactory. Out of 43,464 e-permits for 188.60 million tons of iron ore, only 19,053 (44%) permits for 88.39 (47%) million tons …