Nearly a decade back, the Supreme Court ordered the creation of the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund (GIOPF) on grounds of intergenerational equity and sustainable development, and asked the Goa Government to prepare an appropriate scheme with the assistance of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC). This momentous order was part of the judgment in Goa Foundation I, issued on 21-Apr-2014.
On Wednesday, August 31, 2023, the CEC sent its report on the Scheme for the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund to the Supreme Court (Report 29 of 2023). The latest draft of the Scheme from the Goa government is at the end of the CEC report in Annexure R-5. In its report, the CEC has suggested rewording one sentence and the addition of another.
The CEC Report describes the areas of agreement and disagreement as follows:
6. Subsequently a meeting was convened by the CEO on 11.4.2023 to consider the draft amendment to clause 7 and clause 11 of the GMOPFTS received from Government of Goa and the written submissions made by Goa Foundation. In this meeting there was agreement between the Goa Foundation and the State Government of Goa in respect of the following:
i. the Fund will be created by contribution by mining lessees of 10% of the sale value of minerals at mine pit head;
ii. only the interest/income generated from the Fund will be used after inflation-proofing the corpus; and
iii. the Permanent Fund will be invested to achieve maximum long term real returns with minimal cost and the Fund will not be invested in risky assets.
7. The Goa Foundation is not agreeable to the amended clause 11 because it restricts the beneficiaries of the Permanent Fund Scheme to the mining effected area. According to Goa Foundation sufficient funds are being generated through District Mineral Fund (DMF) and which funds are exclusively used for people affected by mining and residing in towns and villages near mining activities. Further, while 16% of the total population of Goa are the beneficiaries of DMF, 84% of the people in Goa State are not entitled for any benefits from the DMF. Therefore the real income generated from the GMOPFTS should be utilized for the benefit and welfare of the 84% of the population of Goa as they are not entitled to any benefits from the DMF even though they are equal stake holders of the natural resource. The damages to the ecology caused by mining activities has to be restored following the Polluter Pays’ Principle and the monies from the GMOPFTS should not be utilized for eco- restoration work.
8. After detailed discussion, it was suggested in the meeting that as is being done in Norway the Trustees after considering the income generated by the Fund annually will make their recommendation regarding the quantum to be transferred from the corpus fund to the State Budget so that the said money can be utilized for implementation of the welfare schemes of entire Goan population. However the Goa Foundation has insisted on distribution of the real income as dividend to the accounts of the permanent residents of Goa and did not favour implementation of welfare schemes.
The next step is for the Supreme Court to hear the matter. All three parties, Government of Goa, CEC as well as Goa Foundation will be given a chance to present their views.